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Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center
Quantile
  • See Also
    • Median
    • Quartiles
    • Ordering
    • Variance
    • MedianDeviation
    • InterquartileRange
    • Sort
    • ListInterpolation
    • Nearest
    • InverseCDF
    • InverseSurvivalFunction
    • OrderDistribution
  • Related Guides
    • Statistical Distribution Functions
    • Time Series Processing
    • Date & Time
    • Statistical Data Analysis
    • Survival Analysis
    • Numerical Data
    • Descriptive Statistics
    • Random Variables
    • Image Processing & Analysis
    • Robust Descriptive Statistics
    • Audio Processing
  • Tech Notes
    • Basic Statistics
    • Descriptive Statistics
    • Discrete Distributions
    • Continuous Distributions
    • See Also
      • Median
      • Quartiles
      • Ordering
      • Variance
      • MedianDeviation
      • InterquartileRange
      • Sort
      • ListInterpolation
      • Nearest
      • InverseCDF
      • InverseSurvivalFunction
      • OrderDistribution
    • Related Guides
      • Statistical Distribution Functions
      • Time Series Processing
      • Date & Time
      • Statistical Data Analysis
      • Survival Analysis
      • Numerical Data
      • Descriptive Statistics
      • Random Variables
      • Image Processing & Analysis
      • Robust Descriptive Statistics
      • Audio Processing
    • Tech Notes
      • Basic Statistics
      • Descriptive Statistics
      • Discrete Distributions
      • Continuous Distributions

Quantile[data,p]

gives the estimate of the p^(th) quantile of data.

Quantile[data,{p1,p2,…}]

gives a list of quantiles p1,p2,….

Quantile[data,p,{{a,b},{c,d}}]

uses the quantile definition specified by parameters a, b, c, d.

Quantile[dist,p]

gives a quantile of the distribution dist.

Details
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Basic Uses  
Array Data  
Image and Audio Data  
Show More Show More
Date and Time  
Parametric Distributions  
Nonparametric Distributions  
Derived Distributions  
Random Processes  
Applications  
Properties & Relations  
Possible Issues  
Neat Examples  
See Also
Tech Notes
Related Guides
History
Cite this Page
BUILT-IN SYMBOL
  • See Also
    • Median
    • Quartiles
    • Ordering
    • Variance
    • MedianDeviation
    • InterquartileRange
    • Sort
    • ListInterpolation
    • Nearest
    • InverseCDF
    • InverseSurvivalFunction
    • OrderDistribution
  • Related Guides
    • Statistical Distribution Functions
    • Time Series Processing
    • Date & Time
    • Statistical Data Analysis
    • Survival Analysis
    • Numerical Data
    • Descriptive Statistics
    • Random Variables
    • Image Processing & Analysis
    • Robust Descriptive Statistics
    • Audio Processing
  • Tech Notes
    • Basic Statistics
    • Descriptive Statistics
    • Discrete Distributions
    • Continuous Distributions
    • See Also
      • Median
      • Quartiles
      • Ordering
      • Variance
      • MedianDeviation
      • InterquartileRange
      • Sort
      • ListInterpolation
      • Nearest
      • InverseCDF
      • InverseSurvivalFunction
      • OrderDistribution
    • Related Guides
      • Statistical Distribution Functions
      • Time Series Processing
      • Date & Time
      • Statistical Data Analysis
      • Survival Analysis
      • Numerical Data
      • Descriptive Statistics
      • Random Variables
      • Image Processing & Analysis
      • Robust Descriptive Statistics
      • Audio Processing
    • Tech Notes
      • Basic Statistics
      • Descriptive Statistics
      • Discrete Distributions
      • Continuous Distributions

Quantile

Quantile[data,p]

gives the estimate of the p^(th) quantile of data.

Quantile[data,{p1,p2,…}]

gives a list of quantiles p1,p2,….

Quantile[data,p,{{a,b},{c,d}}]

uses the quantile definition specified by parameters a, b, c, d.

Quantile[dist,p]

gives a quantile of the distribution dist.

Details

  • Quantile is also known as value at risk (VaR) or fractile.
  • When VectorQ data is sorted as , the quantile estimate is given by .
  • For MatrixQ data, the quantile is computed for each column vector with Quantile[{{x1,y1,…},{x2,y2,…},…},p] equivalent to {Quantile[{x1,x2,…},p],Quantile[{y1,y2,…},p]}. »
  • For ArrayQ data, quantile is equivalent to ArrayReduce[Quantile,data,1]. »
  • Quantile[{x_1,...,x_n},p,{{a,b},{c,d}}] is given by with r=a+(n+b)p, ⌊r⌋= Floor[r], ⌈r⌉=Ceiling[r] and =FractionalPart[r]. The indices are taken to be 1 or n if they are out of range. »
  • Common choices of parameters {{a,b},{c,d}} include:
  • {{0,0},{1,0}}inverse empirical CDF (default)
    {{0,0},{0,1}}linear interpolation (California method)
    {{1/2,0},{0,0}}element numbered closest to p n
    {{1/2,0},{0,1}}linear interpolation (hydrologist method)
    {{0,1},{0,1}}mean‐based estimate (Weibull method)
    {{1,-1},{0,1}}mode‐based estimate
    {{1/3,1/3},{0,1}}median‐based estimate
    {{3/8,1/4},{0,1}}normal distribution estimate
  • The default choice of parameters is {{0,0},{1,0}}.
  • About 10 different choices of parameters are in use in statistical work.
  • Quantile[list,p] always gives a result equal to an element of list.
  • The same is true whenever d is 0.
  • When d is 1, Quantile is piecewise linear as a function of p.
  • Median[data] is equivalent to Quantile[data,1/2,{{1/2,0},{0,1}}].
  • The data can have the following additional forms and interpretations:
  • Associationthe values (the keys are ignored) »
    SparseArrayas an array, equivalent to Normal[data] »
    QuantityArrayquantities as an array »
    WeightedDatabased on the underlying EmpiricalDistribution »
    EventDatabased on the underlying SurvivalDistribution »
    TimeSeries, TemporalData, …vector or array of values (the time stamps ignored) »
    Image,Image3DRGB channel's values or grayscale intensity value »
    Audioamplitude values of all channels »
    DateObject, TimeObjectlist of dates or list of times »
  • Quantile[dist,p] is equivalent to InverseCDF[dist,p].
  • Quantile[dist,p] is the minimum of the set of number(s) q_(p) such that Probability[x≤q_(p),xdist]≥p and Probability[x≥q_(p),xdist]≥p. »
  • For a random process proc, the quantile function can be computed for slice distribution at time t, SliceDistribution[proc,t], as Quantile[SliceDistribution[proc,t], p]. »
  • The value p can be symbolic or any number between 0 and 1. »

Examples

open all close all

Basic Examples  (7)

Find the halfway value of a list:

Find the 20% and 80% quantiles of a list:

Find the top percentile of a list:

Quantile of a list of dates:

The q^(th) quantile for a normal distribution:

Quantile function for a continuous univariate distribution:

Quantile function for a discrete univariate distribution:

Scope  (33)

Basic Uses  (7)

Quantile works with any real numeric quantities:

Obtain results at any precision:

Compute results using other parametrizations:

Find quantiles for WeightedData:

Find quantiles for EventData:

Find a quantile for TimeSeries:

The quantile depends only on the values:

Find a quantile for data involving quantities:

Array Data  (6)

Find quantiles of elements in each column:

Find multiple quantiles of elements in each column:

The quantile for a tensor gives columnwise standard deviations at the first level:

Compute results for a large vector or matrix:

When the input is an Association, Quantile works on its values:

Compute results for a SparseArray:

Find a quantile of a QuantityArray:

Image and Audio Data  (2)

Channelwise 30% percentile value of an RGB image:

30% percentile intensity value of a grayscale image:

30% percentile amplitude of all channels:

Date and Time  (5)

Compute a quantile of dates:

Compute a weighted quantile of dates:

Compute a quantile of dates given in different calendars:

The quantile is given in one of the input calendars:

Compute a quantile of times:

Compute a quantile of times with different time zone specifications:

Parametric Distributions  (5)

Obtain exact numeric results:

Obtain a machine-precision result:

Obtain a result at any precision for a continuous distribution:

Obtain a symbolic expression for the quantile:

Quantile threads elementwise over lists:

Nonparametric Distributions  (2)

Quantile for nonparametric distributions:

Compare with the value for the underlying parametric distribution:

Plot the quantile for a histogram distribution:

Derived Distributions  (4)

Quantile for a truncated distribution:

Quadratic transformation of an exponential distribution:

Censored distribution:

Quantile for distributions with quantities:

Random Processes  (2)

Quantile function for a random process:

Find a quantile of TemporalData at some time t=0.5:

Find the corresponding quantile function together with all the simulations:

Applications  (7)

A set of equally spaced quantiles divides the values into equal-sized groups:

Calculate a set of quantiles:

Plot the PDF divided according to the values of quantiles into five regions:

Use quantile as a mesh function:

Plot the q^(th) quantile for a list:

The linearly interpolated quantile:

Compute an expectation using quantile :

Use this method in Expectation:

Generate random numbers for a nonuniform distribution by transforming the uniform distribution by the quantile function of the nonuniform distribution:

Compare the histogram of the sample with the probability density function of the desired distribution:

Compute a moving quantile for some data:

Use the window of length .1:

Compute selected quantiles for slices of a collection of paths of a random process:

Choose a few slice times:

Plot the quantiles over these paths:

Compute quantiles for the heights of children in a class:

Properties & Relations  (9)

Use Quantile to find the quartiles of a distribution:

Calculate quartiles directly:

With default parameters, Quantile always returns an element of the list:

Quartiles gives linearly interpolated Quantile values for a list:

InterquartileRange is the difference of linearly interpolated Quantile values for a list:

QuartileDeviation is half the difference of linearly interpolated Quantile values for a list:

QuartileSkewness uses linearly interpolated Quantile values as a skewness measure:

Quantile is equivalent to InverseCDF for distributions:

QuantilePlot plots the quantiles of a list or distribution:

BoxWhiskerChart shows special quantiles for data:

Possible Issues  (4)

For computations with data, the value p can be any number between 0 and 1:

The symbolic closed form may exist for some distributions:

Symbolic closed forms do not exist for some distributions:

Numerical evaluation works:

Substitution of invalid values into symbolic outputs gives results that are not meaningful:

It stays unevaluated if passed as an argument:

Quartiles of data computed via Quantile do not always agree with Quartiles:

Calculate quartiles directly:

Specify linear interpolation parameters in Quantile:

Neat Examples  (1)

The distribution of Quantile estimates for 20, 100, and 300 samples:

See Also

Median  Quartiles  Ordering  Variance  MedianDeviation  InterquartileRange  Sort  ListInterpolation  Nearest  InverseCDF  InverseSurvivalFunction  OrderDistribution

Function Repository: StatisticsSummary

Tech Notes

    ▪
  • Basic Statistics
  • ▪
  • Descriptive Statistics
  • ▪
  • Discrete Distributions
  • ▪
  • Continuous Distributions

Related Guides

    ▪
  • Statistical Distribution Functions
  • ▪
  • Time Series Processing
  • ▪
  • Date & Time
  • ▪
  • Statistical Data Analysis
  • ▪
  • Survival Analysis
  • ▪
  • Numerical Data
  • ▪
  • Descriptive Statistics
  • ▪
  • Random Variables
  • ▪
  • Image Processing & Analysis
  • ▪
  • Robust Descriptive Statistics
  • ▪
  • Audio Processing

History

Introduced in 2003 (5.0) | Updated in 2007 (6.0) ▪ 2023 (13.3) ▪ 2024 (14.1)

Wolfram Research (2003), Quantile, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Quantile.html (updated 2024).

Text

Wolfram Research (2003), Quantile, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Quantile.html (updated 2024).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2003. "Quantile." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2024. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Quantile.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2003). Quantile. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Quantile.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_quantile, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Quantile}", year="2024", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Quantile.html}", note=[Accessed: 04-February-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_quantile, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Quantile}, year={2024}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Quantile.html}, note=[Accessed: 04-February-2026]}

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