How to find the mean of list elements without unlisting them in R?

Most of the times, unlisting is used to find the mean of list elements but we can also use double-square brackets for the same purpose. The double-square brackets are basically used to access the values in the elements of the list, thus mean function works with those values directly. Look at the below example to understand how it works.

Example

Consider the below list:

Live Demo

> x<-rpois(50,5)
> x

Output

[1] 3 3 3 5 3 1 4 7 5 4 5 9 9 7 4 3 6 2 4 3 3 4 7 4 4
[26] 4 5 3 4 4 3 5 7 2 3 4 7 9 6 3 2 7 12 8 3 2 4 3 7 7

Example

Live Demo

> y<-rpois(75,8)
> y

Output

[1] 10 13 3 4 8 13 9 7 6 6 10 8 6 6 2 8 11 18 7 6 9 9 4 11 6
[26] 15 7 6 8 6 7 3 6 7 8 10 5 5 5 6 9 11 11 9 4 9 7 4 11 7
[51] 7 8 8 6 5 4 10 10 10 11 8 5 9 13 12 6 15 12 9 10 9 10 8 9 11

Example

Live Demo

> z<-sample(0:10,70,replace=TRUE)
> z

Output

[1] 1 2 5 1 5 10 3 3 0 3 4 6 1 10 10 10 7 9 4 4 6 8 8 2 10
[26] 3 10 7 5 7 7 10 8 4 5 0 1 7 4 3 6 7 3 6 9 4 6 2 1 2
[51] 8 3 4 3 7 1 5 0 2 1 6 1 8 7 2 1 0 9 1 5

Example

Live Demo

> a<-rnorm(70,5,1)
> a

Output

[1] 5.628975 5.573691 5.006051 5.077979 5.871554 5.385300 4.657602 4.735646
[9] 4.442138 4.760412 5.017734 4.280068 7.686220 3.875272 4.067216 5.701463
[17] 5.593412 5.775659 5.879765 5.016738 3.994980 5.155600 6.712727 4.389124
[25] 6.122981 4.864763 3.368189 5.707907 3.795154 5.352383 5.916437 4.626415
[33] 3.880298 4.557015 4.811892 6.055774 7.219117 4.646261 4.674638 6.131624
[41] 4.965561 4.821740 3.863569 3.450784 5.343807 3.379690 4.184890 5.120902
[49] 5.729253 4.493643 4.401883 3.231263 4.858176 2.979016 3.687358 4.505526
[57] 4.562880 6.275943 6.123173 7.069203 3.584879 4.142615 5.263056 4.817530
[65] 5.623996 4.190001 3.751704 2.850223 3.585672 4.894851

Example

Live Demo

> b<-runif(80,3,8)
> b

Output

[1] 3.442903 4.001856 6.432766 4.891293 5.044795 5.218431 3.171832 4.397526
[9] 6.285000 6.379085 5.709033 6.291581 4.218582 4.236623 4.174158 5.074241
[17] 6.673121 7.885147 5.019942 6.679726 3.431944 3.822653 5.507297 5.496158
[25] 5.514768 4.815769 3.499057 4.669202 4.775597 7.990668 6.883988 6.130633
[33] 6.777758 3.015941 6.189278 4.884390 6.961173 4.642663 6.739331 4.135479
[41] 7.120461 6.584457 4.597551 4.988885 3.520279 6.762352 5.131450 7.817774
[49] 7.881543 4.903794 5.692226 4.195919 4.629501 3.668161 3.138173 4.645494
[57] 7.514812 5.957177 6.617235 6.490214 5.175956 4.944264 6.886052 7.902101
[65] 6.308360 3.615881 5.029082 6.779920 7.993889 4.205757 3.185573 3.111127
[73] 7.556962 3.458693 7.766828 7.935259 5.964028 4.831651 6.164589 6.658785

Example

Live Demo

> c<-rexp(60,3.12)
> c

Output

[1] 0.1047474880 0.1613035476 0.2720461048 0.3714672737 0.1450241494
[6] 0.1172384887 0.0929828154 0.0664085124 0.1664490039 0.1463586694
[11] 0.5154090083 0.3250343993 0.0129845417 0.1228420892 0.0005871378
[16] 0.4522178841 0.0405094619 0.0640481666 0.1504493882 0.0456359051
[21] 0.3061571805 0.2142645778 0.0006100014 0.8694030410 0.1857693661
[26] 0.8603525043 0.5723388268 0.1471301074 0.3497110378 0.0989022598
[31] 0.7969995083 0.1855059460 0.3252937372 0.0620924534 0.5784960475
[36] 0.5985177050 0.0473140977 0.4036286207 0.0482094750 0.0045920645
[41] 0.1998384091 0.3897105935 0.1562889333 0.3647960092 0.2741774798
[46] 0.0256578746 0.3201171403 0.2401259122 0.7529862278 0.3503083498
[51] 0.1387969009 0.0194571765 0.0571447048 0.4248323683 0.3069464950
[56] 0.2832176146 0.0090127322 0.0379236670 0.3523537577 0.2085964980

Example

Live Demo

> w<-sample(1:100,65)
> w

Output

[1] 58 94 72 56 33 29 9 28 60 42 97 40 67 98 78 68 43 2 10
[20] 53 79 27 47 1 41 84 34 99 92 19 93 37 13 64 51 3 46 52
[39] 59 35 73 30 80 17 95 76 15 44 81 21 55 74 83 6 77 36 8
[58] 65 63 45 14 71 100 61 90

Example

Live Demo

> q<-round(rnorm(150),0)
> q

Output

[1] -1 -1 0 0 0 1 0 -2 -1 0 1 0 0 -1 1 1 1 2 2 -1 -1 0 1 1 1
[26] -3 -1 0 0 2 0 1 0 -1 1 0 0 1 2 2 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1
[51] 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 -1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0
[76] 1 1 1 -2 -1 1 0 0 0 2 -1 1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 -2 2 0 1 1 -1 1
[101] -3 -1 -1 1 1 -2 0 0 1 0 0 1 -1 0 2 -1 -1 1 0 1 -1 0 0 -1 0
[126] 0 1 -1 -2 1 0 1 -1 0 -1 0 -2 -1 0 1 -1 1 1 -1 0 -2 -1 2 -2 0

Example

> List<-list(x,y,z,a,b,c,w,q)
> List

Output

[[1]]
[1] 3 3 3 5 3 1 4 7 5 4 5 9 9 7 4 3 6 2 4 3 3 4 7 4 4
[26] 4 5 3 4 4 3 5 7 2 3 4 7 9 6 3 2 7 12 8 3 2 4 3 7 7

[[2]]
[1] 10 13 3 4 8 13 9 7 6 6 10 8 6 6 2 8 11 18 7 6 9 9 4 11 6
[26] 15 7 6 8 6 7 3 6 7 8 10 5 5 5 6 9 11 11 9 4 9 7 4 11 7
[51] 7 8 8 6 5 4 10 10 10 11 8 5 9 13 12 6 15 12 9 10 9 10 8 9 11

[[3]]
[1] 1 2 5 1 5 10 3 3 0 3 4 6 1 10 10 10 7 9 4 4 6 8 8 2 10
[26] 3 10 7 5 7 7 10 8 4 5 0 1 7 4 3 6 7 3 6 9 4 6 2 1 2
[51] 8 3 4 3 7 1 5 0 2 1 6 1 8 7 2 1 0 9 1 5

[[4]]
[1] 5.628975 5.573691 5.006051 5.077979 5.871554 5.385300 4.657602 4.735646
[9] 4.442138 4.760412 5.017734 4.280068 7.686220 3.875272 4.067216 5.701463
[17] 5.593412 5.775659 5.879765 5.016738 3.994980 5.155600 6.712727 4.389124
[25] 6.122981 4.864763 3.368189 5.707907 3.795154 5.352383 5.916437 4.626415
[33] 3.880298 4.557015 4.811892 6.055774 7.219117 4.646261 4.674638 6.131624
[41] 4.965561 4.821740 3.863569 3.450784 5.343807 3.379690 4.184890 5.120902
[49] 5.729253 4.493643 4.401883 3.231263 4.858176 2.979016 3.687358 4.505526
[57] 4.562880 6.275943 6.123173 7.069203 3.584879 4.142615 5.263056 4.817530
[65] 5.623996 4.190001 3.751704 2.850223 3.585672 4.894851

[[5]]
[1] 3.442903 4.001856 6.432766 4.891293 5.044795 5.218431 3.171832 4.397526
[9] 6.285000 6.379085 5.709033 6.291581 4.218582 4.236623 4.174158 5.074241
[17] 6.673121 7.885147 5.019942 6.679726 3.431944 3.822653 5.507297 5.496158
[25] 5.514768 4.815769 3.499057 4.669202 4.775597 7.990668 6.883988 6.130633
[33] 6.777758 3.015941 6.189278 4.884390 6.961173 4.642663 6.739331 4.135479
[41] 7.120461 6.584457 4.597551 4.988885 3.520279 6.762352 5.131450 7.817774
[49] 7.881543 4.903794 5.692226 4.195919 4.629501 3.668161 3.138173 4.645494
[57] 7.514812 5.957177 6.617235 6.490214 5.175956 4.944264 6.886052 7.902101
[65] 6.308360 3.615881 5.029082 6.779920 7.993889 4.205757 3.185573 3.111127
[73] 7.556962 3.458693 7.766828 7.935259 5.964028 4.831651 6.164589 6.658785

[[6]]
[1] 0.1047474880 0.1613035476 0.2720461048 0.3714672737 0.1450241494
[6] 0.1172384887 0.0929828154 0.0664085124 0.1664490039 0.1463586694
[11] 0.5154090083 0.3250343993 0.0129845417 0.1228420892 0.0005871378
[16] 0.4522178841 0.0405094619 0.0640481666 0.1504493882 0.0456359051
[21] 0.3061571805 0.2142645778 0.0006100014 0.8694030410 0.1857693661
[26] 0.8603525043 0.5723388268 0.1471301074 0.3497110378 0.0989022598
[31] 0.7969995083 0.1855059460 0.3252937372 0.0620924534 0.5784960475
[36] 0.5985177050 0.0473140977 0.4036286207 0.0482094750 0.0045920645
[41] 0.1998384091 0.3897105935 0.1562889333 0.3647960092 0.2741774798
[46] 0.0256578746 0.3201171403 0.2401259122 0.7529862278 0.3503083498
[51] 0.1387969009 0.0194571765 0.0571447048 0.4248323683 0.3069464950
[56] 0.2832176146 0.0090127322 0.0379236670 0.3523537577 0.2085964980

[[7]]
[1] 58 94 72 56 33 29 9 28 60 42 97 40 67 98 78 68 43 2 10
[20] 53 79 27 47 1 41 84 34 99 92 19 93 37 13 64 51 3 46 52
[39] 59 35 73 30 80 17 95 76 15 44 81 21 55 74 83 6 77 36 8
[58] 65 63 45 14 71 100 61 90

[[8]]
[1] -1 -1 0 0 0 1 0 -2 -1 0 1 0 0 -1 1 1 1 2 2 -1 -1 0 1 1 1
[26] -3 -1 0 0 2 0 1 0 -1 1 0 0 1 2 2 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1
[51] 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 -1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0
[76] 1 1 1 -2 -1 1 0 0 0 2 -1 1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 -2 2 0 1 1 -1 1
[101] -3 -1 -1 1 1 -2 0 0 1 0 0 1 -1 0 2 -1 -1 1 0 1 -1 0 0 -1 0
[126] 0 1 -1 -2 1 0 1 -1 0 -1 0 -2 -1 0 1 -1 1 1 -1 0 -2 -1 2 -2 0

Finding the mean of each element in the list:

Example

> mean(List[[1]])

Output

[1] 4.72

Example

> mean(List[[2]])

Output

[1] 8.146667

Example

> mean(List[[3]])

Output

[1] 4.757143

Example

> mean(List[[4]])

Output

[1] 4.882414

Example

> mean(List[[5]])

Output

[1] 5.480545

Example

> mean(List[[6]])

Output

[1] 0.249022

Example

> mean(List[[7]])

Output

[1] 52.2

Example

> mean(List[[8]])

Output

[1] 0.1066667

Updated on: 19-Nov-2020

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