# Why does the one day average not match the graph?

**URL:** <https://community.purpleair.com/t/why-does-the-one-day-average-not-match-the-graph/4896>\
**Category:** Data\
**Created:** [June 11, 2023, 3:06am UTC](https://community.purpleair.com/t/why-does-the-one-day-average-not-match-the-graph/4896 "2023-06-11T03:06:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mpurple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mpurple](https://community.purpleair.com/u/mpurple)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 3:06am UTC](https://community.purpleair.com/t/why-does-the-one-day-average-not-match-the-graph/4896/1 "2023-06-11T03:06:20Z")

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![averages](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/purpleair/original/2X/0/0e3322dd7f495cf1f1e66910aded998db661b1a1.jpeg)

On the attached chart, it lists the one day average as 97, but if you look at the graph, it does not appear to average out to anything close to 97. Anybody understand what’s going on?

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**Author:** ![Ethan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.purpleair.com/ethan/32/177_2.png) [@Ethan](https://community.purpleair.com/u/Ethan)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://community.purpleair.com/t/why-does-the-one-day-average-not-match-the-graph/4896/2 "2023-06-12T16:26:15Z")

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Hi @mpurple,

On the graph, you are selected on the “10-minute average.” You can change this setting by clicking on the box with a gear in the top-left corner and changing the “Averaging period” to “1-hour.”

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**Author:** ![mpurple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mpurple](https://community.purpleair.com/u/mpurple)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://community.purpleair.com/t/why-does-the-one-day-average-not-match-the-graph/4896/3 "2023-06-12T22:36:40Z")

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![purple air map edited](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/purpleair/original/2X/4/4dc8d0bc1dcb26de40bf5a67c804c61657afba8e.jpeg)  
Hi @Ethan – I experimented with that, but it doesn’t seem to solve the underlying question of whether or not the graph matches the data-- see attached image.

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**Author:** ![mpurple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mpurple](https://community.purpleair.com/u/mpurple)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 11:37pm UTC](https://community.purpleair.com/t/why-does-the-one-day-average-not-match-the-graph/4896/4 "2023-06-12T23:37:41Z")

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Oh, wait, I think I’ve got it – it’s not saying what is the past day average, or the past week average, it’s saying what do the days and the weeks in general average out to during the timeframe shown. Do I have it right now?

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**Author:** ![Ethan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.purpleair.com/ethan/32/177_2.png) [@Ethan](https://community.purpleair.com/u/Ethan)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 5:02pm UTC](https://community.purpleair.com/t/why-does-the-one-day-average-not-match-the-graph/4896/5 "2023-06-13T17:02:47Z")

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I see; my apologies for the misunderstanding.

The differences are due to the way the averages are calculated. The graph average is a true average, while the _map markers_ display a weighted moving average.

We plan on synchronizing these averages in the future.

More information is available here: [Difference in Graph and Map Marker Data](https://community.purpleair.com/t/difference-in-graph-and-map-marker-data/2262).

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**Author:** ![mpurple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mpurple](https://community.purpleair.com/u/mpurple)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 6:19pm UTC](https://community.purpleair.com/t/why-does-the-one-day-average-not-match-the-graph/4896/6 "2023-06-13T18:19:23Z")

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Ah, weighted moving average makes total sense-- thank you!