elasticsearch/docs/reference/query-languages/esql/_snippets/functions/median.md

MEDIAN [esql-median]

Syntax

:::{image} ../../../../../images/median.svg :alt: Embedded :class: text-center :::

Parameters

true Description

The value that is greater than half of all values and less than half of all values, also known as the 50% PERCENTILE.

::::{note} Like PERCENTILE, MEDIAN is usually approximate. ::::

Supported types

number	result
double	double
integer	double
long	double

Examples

FROM employees
| STATS MEDIAN(salary), PERCENTILE(salary, 50)

MEDIAN(salary):double	PERCENTILE(salary, 50):double
47003	47003

The expression can use inline functions. For example, to calculate the median of the maximum values of a multivalued column, first use MV_MAX to get the maximum value per row, and use the result with the MEDIAN function

FROM employees
| STATS median_max_salary_change = MEDIAN(MV_MAX(salary_change))

median_max_salary_change:double
7.69

::::{warning} MEDIAN is also non-deterministic. This means you can get slightly different results using the same data.

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