QUARTILE.INC Function in Excel: Split Data Into Quarters

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StatisticsLevel: IntermediateAvailable in: Excel 2010+

In this article

1. Syntax
2. Examples
3. Example 1
4. Example 2
5. QUARTILE.INC in practice
6. Where you will use it
7. Worked example
8. Mistakes people make
9. Related functions
10. Continue learning

QUARTILE.INC returns the minimum, the 25th, 50th or 75th percentile, or the maximum. It is the fastest way to see whether a salary band or sales spread is lopsided.

Syntax

=QUARTILE.INC(array, quart)

Argument	What it means
quart	0 = min, 1 = Q1, 2 = median, 3 = Q3, 4 = max.

Examples

Example 1

=QUARTILE.INC(D2:D300, 3) - QUARTILE.INC(D2:D300, 1)

Interquartile range (IQR).

Example 2

=D2 > QUARTILE.INC($D$2:$D$300,3) + 1.5*IQR

Flag outliers, with IQR in a named cell.

QUARTILE.INC in practice

Where you will use it

• Split salaries into quartiles
• Box plot values
• Find the top 25% cut-off

Worked example

Quartile	Formula	Result
1	=QUARTILE.INC({12,15,18,22,25,30,41},A2)	16.5
2	=QUARTILE.INC({12,15,18,22,25,30,41},A3)	22
3	=QUARTILE.INC({12,15,18,22,25,30,41},A4)	27.5

Results calculated in Excel.

Mistakes people make

Mistake	What to do instead
INC vs EXC	INC includes min and max; results differ on small data
Quart above 4	Only 0-4 are valid

Related functions

PERCENTILE.INC · MEDIAN

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📎 Practice files for this article

• 📗
  Practice workbook: Statistics advanced33 tasks on realistic sales data — type your formula, the Check column turns green when it is right. Answers sheet included.
  ⬇ XLSX · 36 KB

Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.