Percentile vs. Percent — What's the Difference?

A statistical measurement indicating the value below which a certain percent of observations fall.

Used to describe discounts in retail.

Represents relative standing in different contexts like tests or income distribution.

A fraction or ratio expressed as a part of 100.

Useful in health to determine growth charts and health risks.

Commonly used in finance to represent interest rates.

Used in psychometrics to compare individual scores against a norm.

Measures the efficiency or effectiveness in various metrics.

Often used in finance to analyze the distribution of returns or income.

Indicates the proportion of ingredients in recipes.

In statistics, a percentile (or a centile) is a score below which a given percentage of scores in its frequency distribution falls (exclusive definition) or a score at or below which a given percentage falls (inclusive definition). For example, the 50th percentile (the median) is the score below which (exclusive) or at or below which (inclusive) 50% of the scores in the distribution may be found.

Out of each hundred; per hundred.

Each of the 100 equal groups into which a population can be divided according to the distribution of values of a particular variable.

Pl. percent also per cent One part in a hundred

Any of the groups that result when a frequency distribution is divided into 100 groups of equal size.

Pl. percents A percentage or portion

Any of the values that separate each of these groups.

Percents Chiefly British Public securities yielding interest at a specified percentage.

(statistics) Any of the ninety-nine points that divide an ordered distribution into one hundred parts, each containing one per cent of the population.

Paying or demanding interest at a specified percentage

(statistics) Any one of the hundred groups so divided.

For every hundred (used with preceding numeral to form a noun phrase expressing a proportion).

(statistics) any of the 99 numbered points that divide an ordered set of scores into 100 parts each of which contains one-hundredth of the total

A percentage, a proportion (especially per hundred).

One part per hundred; one percent.

The percent sign, %.

An annuity or security with a certain fixed and guaranteed annual percentage rate of return or percentage dividend.

A proportion multiplied by 100

The 50th percentile is commonly referred to as the median.

No, they serve different purposes: percent is used for proportions, whereas percentile is used for ranking within a dataset.

Being in the 90th percentile means that 90% of the dataset's values are below the specified value.

Percentiles help compare a student’s performance relative to their peers, rather than just scoring them on a scale of 100%.

A percentile is a measure indicating the value below which a given percentage of observations in a data set falls.

Percentile refers to the position within a distribution, while percentage points describe differences between percentages.

Yes, percentages can exceed 100 when the part is greater than the whole, often seen in growth calculations.

Yes, the value and significance of a percentile can vary depending on the distribution’s shape and range.

Retailers often use percentages to advertise discounts and sales to consumers.

Yes, percent calculations are commonly used in finance, cooking, shopping discounts, and more.

Percent expresses a ratio or a fraction of 100, while percentile is a value that represents the position of a score within a larger dataset.

Percent is calculated by dividing the part by the whole and then multiplying by 100.

High achievers are typically identified at the 90th percentile or above.

In healthcare, percentiles are used to assess patient health metrics against population averages, like BMI or blood pressure levels.

Percentiles can delineate income or wealth distribution, helping identify economic disparities.