# VAR.S

Returns the variance of a sample population.

## Syntax

VAR.S(<columnName>)


### Parameters

Term Definition
columnName The name of an existing column using standard DAX syntax, usually fully qualified. It cannot be an expression.

## Return value

A number with the variance of a sample population.

## Remarks

• VAR.S assumes that the column refers to a sample of the population. If your data represents the entire population, then compute the variance by using VAR.P.

• VAR.S uses the following formula:

∑(x - x̃)2/(n-1)

where x̃ is the average value of x for the sample population

and n is the population size

• Blank rows are filtered out from columnName and not considered in the calculations.

• An error is returned if columnName contains less than 2 non-blank rows.

• This function is not supported for use in DirectQuery mode when used in calculated columns or row-level security (RLS) rules.

## Example

The following example shows the formula for a measure that calculates the variance of the SalesAmount_USD column from the InternetSales_USD for a sample population.

= VAR.S(InternetSales_USD[SalesAmount_USD])