Difference Between Average and Mean

To know the difference between average and mean, you must understand the main point which separates them. There are several points that you need to understand and for a detailed explanation along with examples, keep reading this blog till the end. Here you will find questions to sharpen your question-understanding and solving skills. The questions often come in banking, management, law and government exams like UPSC, CDS, NDA or AFCAT.

Difference Between Average and Mean

The difference between these two is demonstrated in the given table.

Average	Mean
Average is a broader term that includes mean, mode and median, mode.	Mean specifically refers to the arithmetic average, which is the sum of a set of numbers divided by the count of those numbers
Average can be calculated for any discrete numbers where it assumes uniform distribution.	Mean is always calculated by summing all the values in a dataset and dividing by the number of values.
The term average is more general and can be used in different contexts where you want to describe a central tendency.	Mean is a specific measure of central tendency and is commonly used in statistical analysis and mathematics
It can give us the median and the mode.	It cannot give us the median and mode.

In a nutshell, average is a broader term that can refer to various types of central tendency measures, while mean specifically targets the arithmetic average calculated by summing values and dividing by the count of values.

Definition of Average and Mean

Average: When we talk about an “average,” we’re talking about a number that tries to show what a group of numbers is like. To find the average, you add up all the numbers in the group and then divide that total by how many numbers there are. This is also called the “arithmetic mean.” Let’s use a simple set of numbers to find the average.

Here, are the set of values i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Average = Sum of all the values/ Total number of values

Average = (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +5)/5 = 15/5 = 3

Mean: A mean is like the middle number you get when you add up a bunch of numbers and divide by how many there are.

Also Read: 50+ Questions of Verbal Classification Reasoning with Answers

Average and Mean: Solved Questions

For more such study material on Indian Exams, check out Leverage Edu!