# VARP

## Content

This function returns variance based on the entire population, which uses only numeric values.

## Syntax

`VARP(number1,[number2],...)`

## Arguments

<span data-teams="true">This function has these arguments:</span>

| <span data-teams="true">Argument</span> | <span data-teams="true">Description</span> |
| -------- | ----------- |
| <span data-teams="true"> </span>*<span data-teams="true">Number1</span>* | <span data-teams="true"> [</span>Required] The first number argument corresponding to a population. |
| <span data-teams="true"> </span>*<span data-teams="true">Number2,...</span>* | <span data-teams="true"> [</span>Optional] Additional numeric arguments (2 to 255) representing the population. You can also use a single array or a reference to an array instead of arguments separated by commas. |

## Remarks

The variance returns how spread out a set of data is.

* This function uses the following equation to calculate the variance, where *n* is the number of values.
    ![](https://cdn.mescius.io/document-site-files/images/8d606653-16a0-474d-b9dc-e2b4d01c2446/images/Func-VARP.png)
    where x is the value and n is the number of values.

This function assumes that its arguments are the entire population. If your data represents only a sample of the population, then compute the variance using the [VAR](/document-solutions/dot-net-excel-api/docs/online/formula-reference/compatibility-functions/var) function.
This function differs from VARPA, which accepts logical or text values as well as numeric values.

## Examples

`VARP(B3,C4,B2,D10,E5)`
`VARP(A1:A9) VARP(R1C2,100,R2C5,102)`
`VARP(98,85,76,87,92,89,90)` gives the result 39.2653061224