Z-Score Calculator

Z-Score

1

The Numbers

  • Percentile: 84.13% (this value is higher than about 84.1% of a normal distribution with this mean and standard deviation)

Where This Value Falls on the Distribution

-4-3-2-101234 Your value: z = 1.00 (84.13th percentile)

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How This Calculator Works

A z-score measures how many standard deviations a value sits above or below a distribution’s mean. Enter a value, the distribution’s mean, and its standard deviation to find the z-score and the corresponding percentile — what share of a normal distribution falls at or below that value.

A z-score of 0 means the value equals the mean exactly. Positive z-scores are above the mean; negative z-scores are below it. Because roughly 68% of a normal distribution falls within 1 standard deviation of the mean, 95% within 2, and 99.7% within 3, a z-score alone gives an immediate sense of how unusual a value is.

The Formula

Z-Score=ValueMeanStandard Deviation\text{Z-Score} = \frac{\vA{\text{Value}} - \vB{\text{Mean}}}{\vC{\text{Standard Deviation}}}

The percentile comes from the standard normal distribution’s cumulative distribution function — the probability that a randomly drawn value from that distribution falls at or below the entered z-score, computed here via a well-established polynomial approximation of the error function.

Worked Example

An IQ score of 115, where IQ scores have a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15:

  1. Z-score: 115100=15\vA{115} - \vB{100} = 15, then 15÷15=1.015 \div \vC{15} = 1.0.
  2. Percentile: a z-score of exactly 1 corresponds to the 84.13th percentile — this value is higher than about 84% of the distribution.

Source: Standard normal distribution and the Abramowitz & Stegun error function approximation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a z-score actually mean?

A z-score is how many standard deviations a value is from the mean. A z-score of 0 means the value equals the mean; positive z-scores are above it, negative z-scores are below it — the bigger the magnitude, the further (and more unusual) the value is.

What is the difference between a z-score and a percentile?

A z-score describes distance from the mean in standard deviations. A percentile converts that into 'what share of the distribution falls at or below this value' — a more intuitive number for most people, even though both describe the same underlying position.

Does this only work for normal (bell-curve) distributions?

The percentile conversion specifically assumes a normal distribution — the z-score itself (how many standard deviations from the mean) can be computed for any distribution, but the percentile figure only accurately reflects real-world data if that data is actually roughly normally distributed.