The PERCENTILE.INC function in Google Sheets is a powerful statistical tool that allows users to determine the value below which a given percentage of data falls within a specific dataset. This function is particularly useful in data analysis and reporting, enabling users to get insights into the distribution of their data.

Syntax

PERCENTILE.INC(data, percentile)

• data: A range of cells that contain the numerical data you want to analyze.
• percentile: A number between 0 and 1 that indicates the percentile value you want to calculate for the dataset.

Example #1

PERCENTILE.INC(A1:A10, 0.5)

This function calculates the median (50th percentile) of the values within the range A1 to A10. For instance, if the values are {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}, the median would be 5.

Example #2

PERCENTILE.INC(B1:B20, 0.9)

This function calculates the 90th percentile of the values in the range B1 to B20. If the values are {10, 15, 20, 25, …, 100}, the result would be the value below which 90% of the data falls, potentially yielding 91.

Example #3

PERCENTILE.INC(C1:C30, 0.25)

This function computes the 25th percentile of the range C1 to C30. If the values are {2, 4, 6, 8, …, 60}, the result would be 16, indicating the value below which 25% of the observations fall.

Error handling

• NUM! This error occurs if the percentile parameter is less than 0 or greater than 1, or if the dataset is empty.
• REF! This error indicates that the specified range of data does not exist or has been deleted.
• VALUE! This error appears when the input data is not numeric or if the percentile argument is non-numeric.

Conclusion

In summary, the PERCENTILE.INC function in Google Sheets serves as an essential tool for statistical analysis, allowing users to efficiently calculate percentile values in a dataset. By understanding how to properly utilize this function, analysts can gain valuable insights from their data distributions.