I need a formula to return the most common value in a column.

Ron Goulet

I need your help to create a formula to return the most common value seen in a column. I have a dynamic list of Names and I want to display the name that appears the most often in a Summary field. Mental block, sorry!

I've seen very similar posts but nothing has worked. From this example, I want Joe to be displayed.

MichaelTCA

Hello @Ron Goulet

Here's an example of using an Index/Collect function to pull the value using a helper column for the frequency of occurrence.

There are issues when multiple names have the same count or the sort (A-Z) of the sheet changes.

Notice when I changed the sort of the Name column to the other direction the result changes to a different value. It's not wrong, but the function pulls the first result that works and that's all.

Depending on how unique each value is from one another, you may need 2-4 criteria to get consistently accurate data.

MichaelTCA

Hello @Ron Goulet

Here's an example of using an Index/Collect function to pull the value using a helper column for the frequency of occurrence.

There are issues when multiple names have the same count or the sort (A-Z) of the sheet changes.

Notice when I changed the sort of the Name column to the other direction the result changes to a different value. It's not wrong, but the function pulls the first result that works and that's all.

Depending on how unique each value is from one another, you may need 2-4 criteria to get consistently accurate data.

Ron Goulet

Thanx Michael! I'll give it a shot and see how I can improve accuracy. Appreciate the response and help!!