How is variance related to standard deviation?

Variance is standard deviation squared. Standard deviation is often preferred for interpretation because it's in the same units as the original data, while variance is in squared units.

Which variance should I report, population or sample?

Use population variance (÷n) if your data is the complete population. Use sample variance (÷n−1) if your data is a sample meant to estimate a larger population's variance — the n−1 divisor corrects for bias in that estimate.

Variance Calculator

Calculate population and sample variance for a dataset.

How this is calculated

Population variance = Σ(x − mean)² ÷ n; Sample variance = Σ(x − mean)² ÷ (n − 1)

Assumptions used in this calculation

Both variants shown: Both population (÷n) and sample (÷n−1, Bessel's correction) variance are calculated so you can pick the one appropriate to your data.

About this calculator

The variance calculator finds both population and sample variance for a dataset, along with the mean and count.

Worked example

[2,4,4,4,5,5,7,9]

Result: Population variance = 4

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Standard Deviation Calculator

Calculate the standard deviation, variance and mean of a data set.

Variance Calculator

About this calculator

Frequently asked questions

How is variance related to standard deviation?

Which variance should I report, population or sample?

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