Abbott, Langer Association Surveys FAQ#11

QUESTION:  What is the difference between "mean" and "median"?

The mean is the average of all survey data available for the particular job, industry, company size, and geographic area derived from an analyses of multiple data sources projecting real time data. The mean can be found by first summing the values of all the observations in a sample or population and then dividing by the total number of observations.  This is the most common measure of central tendency.

The median is the value at which half of all incumbents earn more and half of all incumbents earn less than the calculated salary. The median can be found by rank-ordering all observations from lowest to highest and taking the middle observation.  Medians are the preferred measure of central tendency in populations with skewed distributions or populations with large numbers of outliers.