Average Star Rating Calculator

Where it is used

• Small-business owners: A cafe owner adds up the star ratings left on customer feedback cards to see how the past month went.
• Event organisers: A conference organiser checks the average rating from a post-event feedback form to judge whether attendees enjoyed it.
• Teachers and trainers: A workshop leader averages the star ratings students gave a session to decide what to improve next time.

How the average is calculated

The average star rating is a weighted average: each star value is multiplied by how many people gave it, summed, then divided by the total number of ratings.

When should you use it?

Use it whenever you have a group of star ratings and want one clear number that sums them up. That might be reviews on a feedback card, star scores from a survey, or ratings people gave a product, event, or service. It is handy when you have too many ratings to add up in your head, or when you want to compare one month, class, or location against another. If you only have written comments and no star scores, this tool is not the right one for the job.

What does the result mean?

The result is the average star rating, a single number that usually sits between 1 and 5. A higher number means people were happier overall. For example, 4.6 means most people gave near the top score, while 2.5 means opinions were low or mixed. As a rough guide, many people treat 4 stars and above as good, and grow wary below about 3 stars. Treat this as a general expectation, not a strict pass or fail mark, because what counts as good varies from one field to another.

Mistakes to avoid

Do not mix different rating scales. If some scores are out of 5 and others out of 10, convert them first or the average will be wrong. Enter the count of people for each star level, not the star number itself, so the 5-star box should hold how many people chose 5, not the number 5. Watch out for blank or skipped answers; leaving them in as zeros drags the average down unfairly. Finally, remember that a small number of ratings can swing the result a lot.

How to use this calculator

1. Gather your ratings and count how many people gave 1 star, 2 stars, and so on up to 5 stars.
2. Type each of those counts into the matching star box, or list every individual rating separated by a comma or Enter.
3. Check that your totals match the number of people who replied, so nothing is missed.
4. Read the average star rating shown, usually a number between 1 and 5, as your overall score.

Worked example

Say 10 people rated a cafe: two gave 5 stars, five gave 4 stars, two gave 3 stars, and one gave 2 stars. That adds up to 10 + 20 + 6 + 2 = 38 stars in total, shared between 10 people. Dividing 38 by 10 gives an average of 3.8 stars.

Frequently asked questions

Related calculators

• Weighted Average Calculator
• CSAT Calculator (Customer Satisfaction)
• Likert Scale Calculator