ThinkCritical.eu · Manipulation atlas
Numbers and chartsMisleading average
An average skewed by a few extreme values. The median shows what is typical.
The mean adds up all the values and divides by how many there are. A few extremes – one huge salary, one expensive house – pull it up, so most people end up “below average”. The median shows what is typical: the number in the middle of the sorted list.
A small company advertises: “Average pay here is €3,100 a month.” It has ten people: nine earn around €2,200 and the owner pays himself €11,200. The median is €2,200 – that's what a typical employee takes home.
How to spot it
- Only the “average” is given for pay, income, house prices or winnings, where a few extremely high values are common.
- Most people you know have far less than the “average”.
- There is no median, no range, and no indication of how many people are below or above the average.
How to check and what to do
- Ask for the median – the value of the person in the middle of the sorted list.
- For wages, check official statistics: many national statistics offices publish the median wage alongside the average, and it is usually noticeably lower.
- With a job offer, ask about the starting salary for your position, not the company-wide average.
- If you have the data, sort it and find the middle value yourself.
Tip: When a millionaire walks into a pub, the average income of the customers jumps – but nobody else gets any richer.
Full explanation and exercises:
thinkcritical.eu/en/manipulation-atlas/average-trap