FREQUENCY will also return an 'overflow count' – the count of values greater than the last bin. In other words, each bin will include a count of scores up to and including the bin value. The range F5:F8 is the named range 'bins'. FREQUENCY will treat each bin value as the upper limit for that bin. In the example shown, we have a list of 12 scores in the named range 'data' (C5:C16).
On the other hand, once you set up your bins correctly, FREQUENCY will give you all counts at once! Setup and formula The FREQUENCY function returns a frequency distribution, which is a summary table that shows the count of each value in a range by 'bin'. FREQUENCY is a bit tricky to use, because must be entered as an array formula. Because FREQUENCY is a formula, the results and chart will dynamically update if data changes.
The example on this page shows one way to create your own histogram data with the FREQUENCY function and use a regular column chart to plot the results. Note: later versions of Excel include a native histogram chart, which is easy to create, but not as flexible to format.
