AVERAGE.WEIGHTED: Calculate the Weighted Average in Google Sheets

Published on

There is a dedicated function to calculate the weighted average in Google Sheets. It’s AVERAGE.WEIGHTED. I think this function is not much popular. You know why?

The function SUMPRODUCT is very popular and already familiar to Google Sheets users. It can be used in many real-life examples and the weighted average is no exception.

From my point of view, this may be the reason for the less popularity of the AVERAGE.WEIGHTED function.

So in this tutorial, I am trying to explain to you what is weighted average calculation and how can you do it with two different functions – SUMPRODUCT and WEIGHTED.AVERAGE. You can use either of the ones but I recommend the latter.

Weighted Average in Google Sheets

What does the term weighted average means?

I am not taking you to any definition of weighted average. Here is a simple example to make you understand what is the weighted average aka weighted mean.

As you may probably know you can calculate the average by summing the values and divide it by the count.

Note: In spreadsheets, you can use the AVERAGE function to find the average.

But in weighted average before summing the values it will be multiplied by the corresponding weight.

Here is one example that can well explain this. After that, we can move to how to calculate the weighted average in Google Sheets using functions.

Example to Weighted Average

One person has worked 8 hours per day for 5 days and 6 hours per day for 3 days. Let’s see how to calculate his weighted average of working hours.

weighted mean example in google sheets

The manual calculation of the weighted mean would be like this.

(5*8+3*6)/(5+3) = 7.25

Now here are the formulas that you can use to simply calculate the weighted average in Google Sheets.

Formulas to Calculate the Weighted Average in Google Sheets

As I have mentioned in the beginning you can use either the dedicated AVERAGE.WEIGHTED function or the SUMPRODUCT alternative.

Weighted Average Calculation using the Sumporduct in Google Sheets

Formula:

=sumproduct(A2:A3,B2:B3)/sum(A2:A3)

Result: 7.25

This is the normal approach. Now let me explain how to use the function AVERAGE.WEIGHTED in Google Sheets.

Weighted Average Calculation using the Average.Weighted Function

Syntax:

AVERAGE.WEIGHTED(values, weights, [additional values], [additional weights])

In the AVERAGE.WEIGHTED function, you can use multiple sets of values and corresponding multiple sets of weights.

Formula:

=AVERAGE.WEIGHTED(B2:B3,A2:A3)

Result: 7.25

In this formula, cell B2: B3 (hours) contains the values and cell A2: A3 (days) contains the weight.

Additional Tips:

When you use the function AVERAGE.WEIGHTED, do fill all the cells with values. If any cell is left blank, the formula would return an error. So at least put 0 in blank cells. But the function SUMPRODUCT has no such usage barrier.

Prashanth KV
Prashanth KV
Your Trusted Google Sheets and Excel Guide Prashanth KV brings a wealth of experience in Google Sheets and Excel, cultivated through years of work with multinational corporations in Mumbai and Dubai. As a recognized Google Product Expert in Docs Editors, Prashanth shares his expertise through insightful blogging since 2012. Explore his blog for practical tips and guidance on maximizing your spreadsheet skills.

Lookup Values Under Categories in Excel and Google Sheets

We can use a combination of XLOOKUP and VLOOKUP in both Excel and Google...

Extract Items Under a Category from the Same Column in Excel

In Excel, you can use a combination of the XLOOKUP and DROP functions to...

How to Create a Searchable Table in Excel Using the FILTER Function

Finding specific records, or rows containing the required information, is straightforward in Excel using...

Time Sequences in Excel by Minute, Hour, or Second Increments

Creating time sequences, whether by hour, minute, or second increments in Excel, can be...

More like this

XMATCH Row by Row: Finding Values Across a Range in Google Sheets

Using the BYROW function with XMATCH in Google Sheets allows us to match values...

Limit Formula Expansion to a Specific Row in Google Sheets

In this tutorial, I’ll explain how to limit the expansion of an array formula...

3-D Referencing Structured Data Tables in Google Sheets

When you have several tables within a single sheet—not across multiple sheets in a...

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.