Find nth largest with criteria & nth smallest with criteria in excel

In this article, we will learn how to Find nth smallest with criteria & nth largest with criteria from the given table in Excel.

Scenario:

In simple words, while working with numbers in data numbers, sometimes given a condition i.e. when we need to look up for the 5th highest value given . You can perform the solution to this problem easily using the excel functions as explained below.

Nth largest with criteria

How to solve the problem?

For this article we will be required to use the LARGE function. Now we will make a formula out of these functions. Here we are given a table and we need to find the nth largest value in range with given criteria.

Generic formula:

{ = LARGE ( IF ( c_range = "value" , range ) , n}

c_range : criteria range

value : criteria match value

range : result array

n : nth largest

Note : Do not put curly brackets manually. This is an array formula, must use Ctrl + Shift + Enter in place of just Enter where it returns #NUM! error. 

Example:

All of these might be confusing to understand. So, let's test this formula via running it on the example shown below.

Here we have order details having date of order, region and order price. 

We need to find out the 5th largest order price from East region.  Here the range is given as using the named range excel tool.

region  (C3:C16)

price (D3:D16)

Firstly,  we need to find the Fifth largest values using the LARGE function and then sum operation be performed over those 5 values. Now we will use the following formula to get the sum

Use the Formula:

{ = LARGE ( IF ( region = G5 , price ) , F5 ) }

Explanation:

  • IF function checks the criteria matching all the values in region with given East value in G5 cell and returns corresponding TRUE values from price range.

= LARGE ( { 58.41 ; 303.63 ; FALSE ; 153.34 ; 82.84 ; FALSE ; 520.01 ; FALSE ; 177 ; FALSE ; FALSE ; 57.97 ; 97.72 ; FALSE } ) , F5 )

  • LARGE function takes the array which have all the price range as shown above and returns the 5th largest value from the array as shown in the below snapshot.


You can view the formula in the formula box like as shown above snapshot. Use Ctrl + Shift + Enter to get the result.

As you can see the array formula returns the 5th largest price $97.72 having East region.

You can also feed array as array, criteria within quotes and n value directly to the function instead of using cell reference or named range.
Use the Formula:

{ = LARGE ( IF ( C3:C16 = "West" , D3:D16 ) , 3 ) }

Use Ctrl + Shift + Enter

You can see the formula works fine where find the nth largest value having criteria in table.

Nth lowest with criteria

How to solve the problem?

For this article we will be required to use the SMALL function. Now we will make a formula out of these functions. Here we are given a table and we need to find the nth smallest value in range with given criteria.

Generic formula:

{ = SMALL ( IF ( c_range = "value" , range ) , n}

c_range : criteria range

value : criteria match value

range : result array

n : nth largest
Note : Do not put curly brackets manually. This is an array formula, must use Ctrl + Shift + Enter in place of just Enter where it returns #NUM! error. 

Example:

All of these might be confusing to understand. So, let's test this formula via running it on the example shown below.

Here we have order details having date of order, region and order price. 

We need to find out the nth smallest order price from East region.  Here the range is given as using the named range excel tool.

region  (C3:C16)

price (D3:D16)

Firstly,  we need to find the Fifth smallest or lowest values using the SMALL function and then look up operation be performed over the values. Now we will use the following formula to get the sum

Use the Formula:

{ = SMALL ( IF ( region = G5 , price ) , F5 ) }

Explanation:

  • IF function checks the criteria matching all the values in region with given East value in G5 cell and returns corresponding TRUE values from price range.

= LARGE ( { 58.41 ; 303.63 ; FALSE ; 153.34 ; 82.84 ; FALSE ; 520.01 ; FALSE ; 177 ; FALSE ; FALSE ; 57.97 ; 97.72 ; FALSE } ) , F5 )

  • SMALL function takes the array which have all the price range as shown above and returns the 5th largest value from the array as shown in the below snapshot.

You can view the formula in the formula box like as shown above snapshot. Use Ctrl + Shift + Enter to get the result. 

As you can see the array formula returns the 5th smallest price $153.34 having East region.

You can also feed array as array, criteria within quotes and n value directly to the function instead of using cell reference or named range.
Use the Formula:

{ = SMALL ( IF ( C3:C16 = "west" , D3:D16 ) , 3 ) }

Use Ctrl + Shift + Enter

You can see the formula works fine where you find the nth largest value having criteria in the table.

Here are some observational notes shown below.

Notes:

  1. The formula only works with numbers.
  2. Do not put curly brackets manually. This is an array formula, must use Ctrl + Shift + Enter in place of just Enter where it returns #NUM! error. 
  3. Value of cannot be greater than number of criteria value or it returns #NUM! Error.
  4. IF criteria doesn;t match the formula returns error.
  5. The argument array must be of the same length else the function.

Hope this article about how to Find nth largest with criteria & nth smallest with criteria in excel is explanatory. Explore more articles on lookup formuls in Excel here. If you liked our blogs, share it with your friends on Facebook. And also you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook. We would love to hear from you, do let us know how we can improve, complement or innovate our work and make it better for you. Write us at info@exceltip.com

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