In the range G2:G26, Fran has a bunch of values. In the range H2:H26 she has weights assigned to each value. The weights are in the range of 0.5 to 2.0, representing 50 percent to 200 percent. Fran wonders what formula she should use to create a weighted average of the values in G2:G26.
An average is easy enough to figure out, using either the AVERAGE function or by summing a range and dividing by the number of items in the range. Things get a bit trickier with weighted averages, however. Consider the following formula:
= SUMPRODUCT(G2:G26*H2:H26)/COUNT(G2:G26)
This seems to fulfill the requirement of summing the weighted values and then dividing by the number of items in the range. This doesn't work, however, because it treats each item in the denominator as equal in importance. They are not equally important, though, and their relative importance must be taken into account.
A weighted average is properly defined as the sum of all the weighted values divided by the sum of all the weights. Thus, the following formula will provide Fran with the correct result:
=SUMPRODUCT(G2:G26,H2:H26)/SUM(H2:H26)
The SUMPRODUCT function sums each of the weighted values—derived by multiplying each value in G2:G26 by its weight in H2:H26—and the SUM function sums all the weights. The division provides the final weighted average.
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2026-03-31 07:37:32
David Watssman
Also worth noting, if using your raw data in a pivot table, you'll need to include a weighted result for each line in its own column of the source data. This allows you to add a calculated field of the weighted result/weight to give you weighted average for all lines, subtotals and totals.
2026-03-28 23:46:22
Gary Stockton
I am not nearly so knowledgeable in Excel as you, but I use sumproduct to apply a weighted average most heavily on my prior year's expenditure in a certain category, with the weight tending more to the current year's expenditure as the year winds down as follows: =IF(YEAR(NOW())='Income & Expense Summary'!$A$1, SUMPRODUCT((NOW()-DATE('Income & Expense Summary'!$A$1,1,1))/366 * 'Current Avg Monthly Expenses'!$B$4) + (1-(NOW()-DATE('Income & Expense Summary'!$A$1,1,1))/366)*'Prior Avg Monthly Expenses'!$B$4, 'Current Avg Monthly Expenses'!$B$4)
(with $A$1 being the current year)
2026-03-28 10:12:17
J. Woolley
This formula also works
=SUM(G2:G26*H2:H26)/SUM(H2:H26)
but it requires support for dynamic arrays (Excel 2021+); otherwise, you can press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to enter it as a CSE array formula.
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