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 APRIL 16, 2020  BY ZACH

How to Calculate Relative

Frequency in Excel

A frequency table is a table that displays information

about frequencies. Frequencies simply tell us how many
times a certain event has occurred.

For example, the following table shows how many items

a shop sold in different price ranges in a given week:

Item Price Frequency

$1 – $10 20

$11 – $20 21

$21 – $30 13

$31 – $40 8

$41 – $50 4

The first column displays the price class and the second
column displays the frequency of that class.

It’s also possible to calculate the relative frequency for

each class, which is simply the frequency of each class
as a percentage of the whole.

Item Price Frequency Relative Frequency

$1 – $10 20 0.303

$11 – $20 21 0.318

$21 – $30 13 0.197

$31 – $40 8 0.121

$41 – $50 4 0.061

In total, there were 66 items sold. Thus, we found the

relative frequency of each class by taking the frequency
of each class and dividing by the total items sold.
For example, there were 20 items sold in the price range
of $1 – $10. Thus, the relative frequency of the class $1
– $10 is 20 / 66 = 0.303.

Next, there were 21 items sold in the price range of $11

– $20. Thus, the relative frequency of the class $11 –
$20 is 21 / 66 = 0.318.

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The following example illustrates how to find relative

frequencies in Excel.

Example: Relative Frequencies in Excel

First, we will enter the class and the frequency in

columns A and B:

Next, we will calculate the relative frequency of each

class in column C. Column D shows the formulas we
used:
We can verify that our calculations are correct by making
sure the sum of the relative frequencies adds up to 1:

We can also create a relative frequency histogram to

visualize the relative frequencies.

Simply highlight the relative frequencies:

Then go to the Charts group in the Insert tab and click

the first chart type in Insert Column or Bar Chart:
A relative frequency histogram will automatically appear:

Modify the x-axis labels by right-clicking on the chart and

clicking Select Data. Under Horizontal (Category) Axis
Labels click Edit and type in the cell range that contains
the item prices. Click OK and the new axis labels will
automatically appear:

Additional Resources

Relative Frequency Calculator

Relative Frequency Histogram: De nition + Example

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