This function returns the standard deviation based on a sample (of numeric values).

Syntax

STDEV.S(value1,value2,...)

Arguments

Each argument can be a cell, a cell range, a float value, or an integer value. This function can have up to 255 arguments.

Remarks

The standard deviation is a measure of how widely values are dispersed from the average value. If your data represents the entire population, then compute the standard deviation using the STDEV.P function.

The standard deviation is calculated using the "n-1" method.

Logical values and text representations of numbers that are typed into the list of arguments are counted. If an argument is an array or reference, only numbers in that array or reference are counted. Empty cells, error values, logical values, or text in the array or reference are ignored.

The equation for calculating the standard deviation for a population is:

where x is the sample mean, AVERAGE(number1,number2,…), and n is the number of values.

Data Types

Accepts numeric data for all arguments. Returns numeric data.

Examples

STDEV.S(A1,B2,C3,D4,E5,F6)

STDEV.S(A1:A9)

STDEV.S(R1C2,R3C4,R4C5,R7C2)

STDEV.S(95,89,73,87,85,76,100,96,96) gives the result 9.342257638161012