How to calculate NPS in Excel and Google Sheets

Net Promoter Score takes one formula in Excel or Google Sheets. Here it is, along with the breakdown and the margin of error that tells you whether a change in your score is real.

By Ahmad Saleem, M.Sc. Mathematics & Statistics · Updated

Skip the manual work Use the free nPS Calculator (Net Promoter Score) Turn 0-10 survey responses into a Net Promoter Score, with promoters, passives and detractors broken out.

The one-cell formula

With your 0–10 survey scores in A2:A26, this gives the NPS directly:

=(COUNTIF(A2:A26,">=9")-COUNTIF(A2:A26,"<=6"))/COUNT(A2:A26)*100

It counts promoters (9–10), subtracts detractors (0–6), divides by the number of responses and scales to −100…+100. Change A2:A26 to your own range. It works identically in Google Sheets.

Step by step with a breakdown

For a report you'll usually want the counts as well. Set up a small summary next to your data:

D6=(D2-D4)/D5*100
ABCD
1Score
210Promoters14
39Passives6
48Detractors5
57Responses25
610NPS36
76
25 scores in A2:A26 (first few shown). The summary formulas are listed below.
  • Promoters, D2: =COUNTIF(A2:A26,">=9") → 14
  • Passives, D3: =COUNTIFS(A2:A26,">=7",A2:A26,"<=8") → 6
  • Detractors, D4: =COUNTIF(A2:A26,"<=6") → 5
  • Responses, D5: =COUNT(A2:A26) → 25
  • NPS, D6: =(D2-D4)/D5*100 → 36

Check: 14 + 6 + 5 = 25, so every response is counted once.

The math behind it

  1. Share of promoters and detractors
    1425 = 56% ,   525 = 20%
  2. Subtract
    NPS = 56 − 20 = +36

The NPS calculator does the same from pasted scores or from counts, and adds a chart of the 0–10 distribution.

Add the margin of error

An NPS from a small survey can swing a lot by chance, so it's worth showing how precise it is. With the counts in D2:D5, the 95% margin of error in NPS points is:

=1.96*SQRT((D2/D5+D4/D5-((D2-D4)/D5)^2)/D5)*100

For this survey it's about ±31 points, so the true NPS could plausibly be anywhere from about +5 to +67. With only 25 responses, that's expected. Quadrupling the number of responses roughly halves the margin.

This matters when you compare scores. If NPS moves from 36 to 42 between two small surveys, the change is well inside the margin of error and may be noise, not a real improvement.

Common mistakes

  • Averaging the scores. NPS is not the mean rating. An average of 7.9 tells you nothing about promoters versus detractors.
  • Dropping passives from the total. Divide by all responses, including 7s and 8s.
  • Including blank or text cells. COUNT only counts numbers, but a stray "N/A" typed as 0 would count as a detractor. Clean the column first.
  • Reporting NPS as a percentage. Write "NPS 36" or "+36", not "36%".

Net Promoter®, NPS® and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc. and Fred Reichheld. StatHow is not affiliated with them.

Frequently asked questions

Is NPS a percentage?

No. NPS is the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors, reported as a plain number from −100 to +100. With 56% promoters and 20% detractors, the NPS is 36, not 36%.

Why are 7s and 8s left out?

Passives (7–8) count toward the total number of responses but not toward promoters or detractors. They still matter: more passives means fewer promoters and detractors, so they pull the score toward 0.

What is a good NPS?

Anything above 0 means more promoters than detractors. A common rule of thumb treats 30+ as good, 50+ as excellent and 70+ as exceptional, but scores vary a lot by industry and by how the survey is run. Your own trend over time is usually the most useful comparison.

How many responses do I need?

For a margin of error of about ±10 points you typically need 200–400 responses, depending on the mix of scores. Use the sample size calculator to plan, and always report the margin of error with your NPS.