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My average keeps getting pulled off by a few big numbers, and it doesn't match what most of the rows look like.
What you'll have at the end
One reported number, mean or median, that matches the typical row, labelled with which measure you used.
You need
A numeric column of individual values, like order sizes or response times, already loaded in a spreadsheet or table, with no known duplicate or mis-entered rows still sitting in it.
Not covered
Whether one specific value in the column is a data error worth removing, rather than a genuine part of a skewed shape.
Leans on
An outlier is dragging your summary numbers off track
Use this instead when the whole column looks fine except for a single suspicious row: that's a data-quality check on one value, separate from this shape decision.
Measure a column's skew to know if the average can be trusted
Go here first when handing off a column you've never looked at before and need its full shape characterized, ahead of narrowing to a mean-versus-median call.
Checked 26 Aug 2026
Part of the Descriptive Statistics cookbook