Syntax
PERCENTILE(array, k)
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| array | Parameter of the PERCENTILE function. |
| k | Parameter of the PERCENTILE function. |
Examples
90th percentile salary
Formula
=PERCENTILE(B2:B500, 0.9)
Returns the salary at the 90th percentile — 90% of employees earn less than this value. Useful for comp benchmarking.
25th percentile response time
Formula
=PERCENTILE(D2:D1000, 0.25)
Returns the response time that 25% of requests fall below. Helpful for setting SLA floor targets.
Median via percentile
Formula
=PERCENTILE(A1:A100, 0.5)
Returns the 50th percentile, which is identical to MEDIAN(A1:A100).
Common Errors
#NUM!
Returned when k is less than 0 or greater than 1, or when the array is empty.
#VALUE!
Occurs if k is not a number.
Tips
k=0 and k=1 are valid
PERCENTILE(data, 0) returns the minimum value and PERCENTILE(data, 1) returns the maximum. This inclusive behavior is why it is equivalent to PERCENTILE.INC.
Interpolation between values
PERCENTILE interpolates when the percentile falls between two data points. The result may not be an actual value in your data set.
Use for outlier detection
Values above the 95th or 99th percentile are often treated as outliers. Use PERCENTILE to find these cutoff points programmatically.
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