Is the value that splits a string of numbers in equal halves, it is the value in the middle. 

Calculation steps:

1. sort the values in a low to high order
2. identify if the string has an uneven or even number of values
3. identify the number that splits the string of number into equal halves
4. for a string with uneven number of values the median will be the value placed in the middle of the string
5. for a string with even number of values the median will be the value that results from the average of the two values placed in the middle of the string

For internal or external benchmark of salary elements are used the following statistical elements:

The median is also known as Quartile 2, Decile 5 or Percentile 50 (P50).

Example:

Case 1 - a string with an uneven number of values

String: 9, 3, 1, 6, 7, 8, 3

Sorted string: 1, 3, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 

Median = 6

Median is the value in the middle, in this case is 6 as there are three values to it's left (1, 3, 3) and three values to it's rigt (7, 8, 9).

Case 2 - a string with an even number of values

String: 3, 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 6, 9

Sorted string: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9

Median = 4.5

Calculation:

• identify the values that split the string in two even halves, in this case 4 and 5 are the values as they have three values to the left and three values to right
• average the values placed in the middle: (4 + 5) / 2 = 4.5