The mode is the value that occurs most often. It is the only measure of centre that makes sense for categorical data – the most common blood type, the best-selling shoe size or the most popular answer in a survey – and for numbers it shows where observations pile up.
Unlike the mean and the median, a data set does not have exactly one mode. If two values share the top frequency the data are bimodal, with three or more they are multimodal, and if every value appears equally often there is no mode at all. Many simple tools report only the first or smallest mode; this calculator lists all of them, says how many there are and how often each appears.
You can type numbers or words separated by commas or new lines. Words are compared without regard to upper or lower case unless you choose otherwise. The frequency table sorts values from most to least common, and the bar chart highlights the modes, which makes a second peak – often a sign of two different groups mixed together – easy to see.
How to use the Mode Calculator
- Data (numbers or words) — Separate values with commas or new lines. Words such as red, blue, red also work.
- Upper and lower case in words
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How it works
Count how often each distinct value occurs, find the highest count, and report every value with that count. If all values share the same count there is no mode.
Worked example
Data: 3, 5, 7, 3, 5, 9, 1, 5, 3 (n = 9). Frequencies: 1 → 1, 3 → 3, 5 → 3, 7 → 1, 9 → 1. The highest frequency is 3, shared by 3 and 5, so the data are bimodal with modes 3 and 5; each makes up 33.3% of the values. For comparison the median is 5 and the mean is 41 ÷ 9 ≈ 4.56.
Unimodal, bimodal, multimodal
| Data | Modes | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 2, 4, 4, 6 | 4 | Unimodal |
| 1, 1, 2, 3, 3 | 1 and 3 | Bimodal |
| 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4 | 1, 2 and 3 | Trimodal |
| 5, 6, 7, 8 | none | No mode |
| cat, dog, cat, bird | cat | Unimodal (categorical) |
Formula
Mode = value(s) with the highest frequency f · unimodal (1 mode), bimodal (2), multimodal (3+), no mode if all frequencies are equal
Worked example
Inputs — Data (numbers or words): 3, 5, 7, 3, 5, 9, 1, 5, 3; Upper and lower case in words: Treat "Red" and "red" as the same.
Results — Mode(s) = 3, 5; Type of distribution = Bimodal (two modes); Frequency of the mode = 3; Share of all values = 33.33 %; Number of modes = 2; Number of values = 9.
Key terms
- Mode
- The most frequent value.
- Frequency
- The number of times a value occurs.
- Bimodal
- Having two modes.
- Multimodal
- Having more than two modes.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find the mode?
Count how many times each value appears; the value with the highest count is the mode.
What is the mode of 3, 5, 7, 3, 5, 9, 1, 5, 3?
Both 3 and 5 appear three times, so the data are bimodal with modes 3 and 5.
Can there be more than one mode?
Yes. Two modes is bimodal, three is trimodal and more is multimodal.
Can there be no mode?
Yes, when every value appears the same number of times, e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4.
Can I find the mode of words?
Yes. For red, blue, red, green the mode is red. The mean and median do not exist for such data.
How do I find all modes in Excel?
=MODE.MULT(range) returns every mode as an array; =MODE.SNGL returns only the first.
What does a bimodal distribution suggest?
Often that two groups are mixed, e.g. heights of men and women together.