Is 90th percentile for height Tall or short?

Definition 1: The nth percentile is the lowest score that is greater than a certain percentage (“n”) of the scores. In this example, our n is 25, so we’re looking for the lowest score that is greater than 25%.

Definition 2: The nth percentile is the smallest score that is greater than or equal to a certain percentage of the scores. To rephrase this, it’s the percentage of data that falls at or below a certain observation. This is the definition used in AP statistics. In this example, the 25th percentile is the score that’s greater or equal to 25% of the scores.


They may seem very similar, but they can lead to big differences in results, although they are both the 25th percentile rank. Take the following list of test scores, ordered by rank:


ScoreRank301332433534565676687728

3. How to Find a Percentile


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Example question: Find out where the 25th percentile is in the above list.

Step 1: Calculate what rank is at the 25th percentile. Use the following formula:
Rank = Percentile / 100 * (number of items + 1)
Rank = 25 / 100 * (8 + 1) = 0.25 * 9 = 2.25.
A rank of 2.25 is at the 25th percentile. However, there isn’t a rank of 2.25 (ever heard of a high school rank of 2.25? I haven’t!), so you must either round up, or round down. As 2.25 is closer to 2 than 3, I’m going to round down to a rank of 2.

Step 2: Choose either definition 1 or 2:
Definition 1: The lowest score that is greater than 25% of the scores. That equals a score of 43 on this list (a rank of 3).
Definition 2: The smallest score that is greater than or equal to 25% of the scores. That equals a score of 33 on this list (a rank of 2).

Depending on which definition you use, the 25th percentile could be reported at 33 or 43! A third definition attempts to correct this possible misinterpretation:

Definition 3: A weighted mean of the percentiles from the first two definitions.

In the above example, here’s how the percentile would be worked out using the weighted mean:

  1. Multiply the difference between the scores by 0.25 (the fraction of the rank we calculated above). The scores were 43 and 33, giving us a difference of 10:
    (0.25)(43 – 33) = 2.5
  2. Add the result to the lower score. 2.5 + 33 = 35.5

In this case, the 25th percentile score is 35.5, which makes more sense as it’s in the middle of 43 and 33.

In most cases, the percentile is usually definition #1. However, it would be wise to double check that any statistics about percentiles are created using that first definition.

4. Percentile Range


A percentile range is the difference between two specified percentiles. these could theoretically be any two percentiles, but the 10-90 percentile range is the most common. To find the 10-90 percentile range:

  1. Calculate the 10th percentile using the above steps.
  2. Calculate the 90th percentile using the above steps.
  3. Subtract Step 1 (the 10th percentile) from Step 2 (the 90th percentile).

References

Kenney, J. F. and Keeping, E. S. “Percentile Ranks.” §3.6 in Mathematics of Statistics, Pt. 1, 3rd ed. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand, pp. 38-39, 1962.

CITE THIS AS:
Stephanie Glen. "Percentiles, Percentile Rank & Percentile Range: Definition & Examples" From StatisticsHowTo.com: Elementary Statistics for the rest of us! https://www.statisticshowto.com/probability-and-statistics/percentiles-rank-range/

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The individual growth charts, with one chart per page, have the grids aligned to English units (lb, in), with metric units (kg, cm) on the secondary scale. Individual charts are available for boys and for girls. The individual charts include the following:

Infants, birth to 36 months

  1. Weight-for-age
  2. Length-for-age
  3. Weight-for-length
  4. Head circumference-for-age

Children and adolescents, 2 to 20 years

  1. Weight-for-age
  2. Stature-for-age
  3. Body mass index-for-age

Preschoolers, 2 to 5 years

The individual growth charts were published in three sets.

  • Set 1 contains 16 charts (8 for boys and 8 for girls), with the 3rd, 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th ,95th, and 97th smoothed percentile lines for all charts, and the 85th percentile for BMI-for-age and weight-for-stature.
  • Set 2 contains 16 charts (8 for boys and 8 for girls), with the 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 95th smoothed percentile lines for all charts, and the 85th percentile for BMI-for-age and weight-for-stature.
  • Set 3 contains 16 charts (8 for boys and 8 for girls), with the 3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 97th smoothed percentile lines for all charts, and the 85th percentile for BMI-for-age and weight-for-stature.

These three distinct sets of charts are provided to meet the needs of various users. Set 1 shows all of the major percentile curves, but may have limitations where the curves are close together, especially at the youngest ages. Most users in the United States may wish to use the format shown in set 2 for the majority of routine applications. Pediatric endocrinologists and others dealing with special populations may wish to use the format in set 3 for selected applications.

Within each set, individual charts can be accessed by pointing to the associated URL. In addition, all charts in each set are combined into 3 summary files. These summary files contain the individual charts from either set 1, set 2, or set 3, as described above.

All individual 2000 CDC growth charts have an initial publication date of May 30, 2000. For various reasons, selected charts were modified after the initial publication date. Modifications were made to selected individual charts to correct or enhance particular aspects of the graphs. Where applicable, when individual charts were further modified, the date is indicated on each chart. In all cases where individual charts were modified, the data points in the corresponding data file remain unchanged from the initial release on May 30, 2000. The individual growth charts for weight-for-length and weight-for-stature were modified because the smoothed percentile lines were incorrectly graphed on the grids that were initially published.

All individual growth charts may be viewed, downloaded, and printed in Adobe Acrobat. For routine viewing and printing, the individual charts are available as PDF (600 dpi screen optimized) files.

Suggested citation

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. CDC growth charts: United States. 

Is 90th percentile for height tall?

Newborn growth chart: What they measure For example, a child whose height is in the fiftieth percentile is the same height as an average child of his age. If your child is in the ninetieth percentile, he's taller than 90 percent of all children of his age.

What does it mean 90% percentile in height?

The percentile number means that your child exceeds that percentage of children their age for that measurement. If your child is in the 75th percentile for height, they are taller than 75% of other kids their age.

What percentile means tall?

If your child is in the 90th percentile, he or she is taller than 90 percent of children and shorter than 10 percent of children.

What does it mean to be in 90th percentile?

The 90th percentile shows you the statistics of when your performance was better than 90% of your performance. This means that when an agent's performance is in the 90th percentile, their performance is better than 90% of all performances.