How to Calculate the Mean for Every List Item in R (Example Code)

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to use a function such as mean() or sum() for every element of a list in the R programming language.

Example Data

x <- list(1:10,                     # Constructing example list in R
          20:15,
          2:8)
x                                   # Display example list in RStudio console
# [[1]]
#  [1]  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10
# 
# [[2]]
# [1] 20 19 18 17 16 15
# 
# [[3]]
# [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Example: Using lapply() Function to Get Mean of Each List Element

lapply(x, mean)                     # Using lapply and mean
# [[1]]
# [1] 5.5
# 
# [[2]]
# [1] 17.5
# 
# [[3]]
# [1] 5

Related Articles & Further Resources

You may find some further R programming tutorials on topics such as coding errors, lists, data elements, and extracting data in the following list:

• Error in List – attempt to select less than one element
• How to Extract Element of List
• Delete List Element in R
• How to Extract Second Entry of Each List Element