Greater Than or Equal to in Excel

In Excel, the greater than or equal to (>=) logical operator compares two cells that contain the same data types.

The greater than equal to operator uses the “>=” symbol and returns the TRUE or FALSE value. We frequently use this operator if we are working with formulas.

Today’s tutorial is a part of our definitive guide on Excel Formulas.

Example:

• If value1 is greater than equal to value2, the result is TRUE
• If value1 is less than value2, the result is FALSE.

You can use the “greater than or equal to” operator to compare various data types. These are:

• numbers,
• dates,
• date and time values
• text

Logical operators return boolean type values: TRUE or FALSE, so by checking these outputs, you can decide easily.

How to use the “Greater Than or Equal To” operator in Excel

The following examples help you to understand better how to use these operators for comparison purposes in Excel.

Example 1. – “Greater Than” and “Greater Than or Equal to”

Our data set uses the range B3:B8, which contains numerical values. The comparison is simple. Test whether the given value is greater than 150 or not! So, in cell E3, you can find the criteria.

Typannd equal sign in the formula bar and enter the formula: =B3>= $E$3. Because cell E3 is a constant, you should use absolute reference. Copy the formula down:

=B3>=$E$3

Let us see another example: change the operator to greater than equal to (>= ) and re-evaluate the formula:

Using the greater than or equal to operator returns TRUE in cell C5. Because the test contains an equal operator, the comparison result is TRUE.

Example 2. – Using the IF formula and “Greater Than or Equal to”

Let us combine the “greater than or equal to” comparison operator with the IF function in the example.

Example: In column B, you can find the prices. The logical test works based on these conditions: If the price is >= 2500, the price will reduce by 5%. If the price is < 2500, the value remains the same.

Enter the formula: =IF(B3>=2500, B3*0.95, B3)

1. Locate the formula bar and typannd equal sign (=)
2. Enter the IF function and open a bracket
3. The first argument of the function is the logical test. In this case, B3 is greater than equal to (>=) 2500.
4. Type a comma and enter the second argument, B3 * 0,95
5. In cell B3, if the logical test is TRUE, the formula applies a price reduction of 5%.
6. Type a comma, and add the third argument; what will happen, if the value is less than 2500
7. The formula will keep the original price untouched if the test is FALSE.
8. Close the bracket and press Enter

Copy the formula down:

In cell B7, the value is $2499, so the result is FALSE based on the logical test. However, the value in cell C7 remains the original. Therefore, the “greater than or equal to” condition is TRUE in all other cases.

Example 3: Use the SUMIF function if the date is “greater than equal to”

In Excel, working with dates and logical operators is not rocket science.

In this example, our table contains order dates and the daily revenue. You want to summarize the revenue if the order date is greater than or equal to December 14, 2021.

Enter the formula =SUMIF(B3:B8,”>=”&DATE(2021,12,14),C3:C8)

1. Locate the formula bar and typannd equal sign (=)
2. Enter the SUMIF function and open a bracket
3. The function’s first argument is the range, where we find the date. In this case, we will test the dates in column B, greater than or equal to December 14, 2021.
4. Type a comma and enter the criteria, “>=” &DATE(2021,12,14)
5. Type a comma, and add the third argument; the sum_range, in this case, range C3:C8
6. Close the bracket and press Enter

Example 4: COUNTIF function and logical operators

In the example, you want to count the records in column C, where the revenue is greater than or equal to $2000.

Formula:

=COUNTIF(C3:C8,”>=”&2000)

1. Locate the formula bar and type an equal sign (=)
2. Enter the COUNTIF function and open a bracket
3. The first argument is the range, where we find the value that will compare to the criteria.
4. Type a comma and enter the criteria, “>=” &2000
5. Close the bracket and press Enter

Copy the formula down and check the result. The result is =3 because only three values are greater than or equal to 2000.

Example 5: Working with Text values

It is not a great idea to use the “greater than or equal to” operator for text values if you are working with Excel.

In the example, cell A1 contains “apple” and the text in cell B1 is “banana.” Type the A1>= B1 formula.

The result is FALSE. It would be great to know why. Excel uses a simple algorithm (alphabetic order of characters) to decide which text is “greater than equal to.” The minimum value is “a,” and the maximum is “z.”

Here are some text-related comparison examples:

What if both texts begin with the same characters? Excel checks the second character, and so on. We’ve just demonstrated that using the “greater than or equal to” operator is not the best comparison method.

Wrapping things up

Download the example

That was our quick guide on how the “greater than or equal to” operator works. If you want to practice, download the examples and look at the used formulas and functions.