What Percent Is X of Y Calculator
Find what percentage one number is of another.
Good to know. Part divided by whole, times 100. That’s the whole trick; we just don’t make typos.
How it works
In plain words
Divide the part by the whole, then multiply by 100 to turn the decimal into a percentage.
The formula
percent = (X ÷ Y) × 100
Worked example
17 out of 85: 17 ÷ 85 = 0.2, and 0.2 × 100 = 20%.
Sources
No outside data or rates: this is plain arithmetic.
8 automated tests check its answers on every change.
About the what percent is X of Y calculator
This is the percentage question with the most everyday uses. You scored 42 out of 50 on a test. You have spent 380 of your 500 budget. Your fundraiser has 7,300 of its 10,000 goal. In each case you have a part and a whole, and you want to know how big the part is as a share of 100.
The calculation is always the same: divide the part by the whole. That gives a decimal between 0 and 1 when the part is smaller than the whole, and you multiply it by 100 to get a percentage. So 42 out of 50 is 0.84, or 84%.
The part can be bigger than the whole. If you planned to spend 500 and spent 600, you spent 120% of the plan. That is not an error, it just means you went over.
Be careful about which number is the whole. "What percent of 85 is 17" and "what percent of 17 is 85" give very different answers (20% versus 500%). The whole is the number that comes after "of", or the total you are comparing against. If you want to know how much something went up or down between two values, use the percentage change calculator instead, because it measures the difference rather than the share.
Questions people ask
How do I work out a test score as a percentage?
Divide your score by the maximum possible score and multiply by 100. For 42 out of 50: 42 ÷ 50 × 100 = 84%.
Can the answer be more than 100%?
Yes. If the part is larger than the whole, the answer is over 100%. Spending 600 against a budget of 500 is 120% of the budget.
Why can’t the whole be zero?
Dividing by zero has no answer. A percentage compares a part to a whole, so the whole has to be something.
Is this the same as percentage change?
No. This finds what share one number is of another. Percentage change finds how much a value grew or shrank from a starting point.