# How can I calculate median household income on the SDA online data analysis tool? I receive an error saying there are too many observations

**URL:** <https://forum.ipums.org/t/how-can-i-calculate-median-household-income-on-the-sda-online-data-analysis-tool-i-receive-an-error-saying-there-are-too-many-observations/6009>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [July 22, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/how-can-i-calculate-median-household-income-on-the-sda-online-data-analysis-tool-i-receive-an-error-saying-there-are-too-many-observations/6009 "2024-07-22T16:43:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Daniel\_Mangoubi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@Daniel\_Mangoubi](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Daniel_Mangoubi)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/how-can-i-calculate-median-household-income-on-the-sda-online-data-analysis-tool-i-receive-an-error-saying-there-are-too-many-observations/6009/1 "2024-07-22T16:43:44Z")

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Hi All,

I tried running a calculation for the median household income in the online

- An exact percentile/median cannot be calculated due to the large number of cases/categories in this cell

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**Author:** ![Ivan\_Strahof](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/ivan_strahof/32/626_2.png) [@Ivan\_Strahof](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Ivan_Strahof)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 3:02pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/how-can-i-calculate-median-household-income-on-the-sda-online-data-analysis-tool-i-receive-an-error-saying-there-are-too-many-observations/6009/3 "2024-07-24T15:02:56Z")

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The online Survey Documentation and Analysis ([SDA](https://usa.ipums.org/usa/sda/)) tool does not have the computing capacity to calculate a median beyond a certain number of observations. In this case, the tool offers users the option to calculate the median using a remedian technique that mimics an ordinary sample median while using less storage (see [the SDA documentation](https://sda.usa.ipums.org/sdaweb/helpfiles/helpan.htm#Mestimatepercentile)). To request the SDA tool to calculate a remedian, check the box next to _Estimate the values of medians or percentiles_ under the _Median/Percentile Options_ (see screenshot below).

You will additionally need to filter out the NIU code for [HHINCOME](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/HHINCOME#codes_section) (see the _Codes_ tab). Since the samples in the SDA tool are all person-level microdata, you will also need to include the filter[PERNUM](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/PERNUM)(1) so that each household is only counted once and change the weight to the household weight.

 ![Screenshot 2024-07-24 100156](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/ipums/original/1X/c14bd24250761870b3c0c87038606a0bbacd078a.png)