Median

The median is the middle value of your data when all the numbers are lined up in order — half the values fall below it and half above. If there is an even count, it is the average of the two middle values.

The median's great virtue is robustness: extreme values barely move it. Imagine five workers earning 30, 32, 35, 38, and 500 thousand; the mean is dragged up to over 100 by the one high earner, but the median stays at a representative 35. This is why incomes, house prices, and other lopsided data are usually reported with the median rather than the mean.