Range Lookup in Excel – How to lookup the pricing tier? [Formulas]

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Here is a really tricky problem. Recently I was given a data set like this (shown below) and asked to find the position of lookup value in the list. The only glitch is that, instead of values, the lookup table contained lower and upper boundaries of the values. See the below illustration to understand what I mean. Range Lookup Excel - Formula for looking up a value to match corresponding range In simple words, we have to find the range that has the lookup value. Now, the problem is similar to between formula trick we discussed a few days back, yet very different. We all know that,
  • XLOOKUP formula looks up a value in a table and returns the corresponding value in next column
  • MATCH formula looks up a value and tells the position of it in a list
But neither seem to solve this problem. So I naturally turned to a cup of home brewed coffee (remember, I no longer work in a office, so I can’t rush to espresso machine) and stared long and hard out of the window (remember, I no longer go to office, that means I can sit in front of a window and work). Added in December, 2022:

We can use XMATCH:

Since we just want to know which row will contain the value, we can use XMATCH as shown below.
				
					=XMATCH(1, (B6:B15<=C3)*(C6:C15>=C3))
				
			

Ok, go ahead, I will give you a minute to soak in the awesomeness of that formula.

Are you back?, well, lets explore what this formula does.

How this works:

  • C3 contains our lookup value
  • B6:B15 has the lower boundary
  • C6:C15 has the higher boundary
  • The (B6:B15<=C3)*(C6:C15>=C3) returns a bunch of 1s or 0s. It will be 1 whenever C3 is between column B&C values and 0 otherwise.
  • XMATCH will match the first 1, ie the first row that matches the range.

Or even the SUMPRODUCT

Then I thought, “may be SUMPRODUCT formula would work for situations like these?!?”

After playing for a while, I got the perfect formula for this.

  • Assuming the value to be looked up is in cell C3
  • The start and end values are in B6:B15 and C6:C15 respectively,

We write,

				
					=SUMPRODUCT((B6:B15<=C3)*(C6:C15>=C3),ROW(B6:B15))-5
				
			

There are 3 portions in that formula,

  1. (B6:B15<=C3)*(C6:C15>=C3) part: This is checking the range B6:B15 and C6:C15 to find that one set of start and end values that would contain the value in C3. The output would be a bunch of 0s with probably a single 1
  2. ROW(B6:B15) part: This just gives running numbers from 6 to 15. When you SUMPRODUCT this with above you get a single number corresponding the row in which the match occurred
  3. -5 part: We reduce the output value by 5 since our value began in row 6, not row 1.

Use this to lookup date ranges too:

Excel Vlookup Date Ranges - Excel Formula to lookup matching date ranges

As you can guess, you can easily use the above SUMPRODUCT formula to lookup matching date ranges too a la vlookup for date ranges.

Download Range Lookup Example Workbook:

In the download workbook, you can find both examples (values and dates). Go ahead and download it. Play with it to understand range lookup formula better.

Click here to download the sample workbook.

Do you face range lookup problem?

Often, when working on project planning, I end up checking where a date falls between given set of start and end dates. Earlier, I used helper columns to solve such a problem. But the XMATCH (or SUMPRODUCT) solution above is much more elegant and scalable. Plus it is much more fun to write.

What about you?

Do you face range lookup problem often? How do you solve it? Share your techniques and tips using comments. Thank you 🙂

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29 Responses to “You are invited [personal]”

  1. Umar says:

    Dear Sir,
    This is to just Wish the kids a Happy birthday in Advance.May Almighty bless them all strength,Success

  2. Nanda says:

    Dear Chandoo,

    My best wishes to your child.I had become regular visitor of your site and finally today it made me to post a comment...

  3. Best wishes from my end! Dont think it would be possible to personally come .. but my best wishes would always be there!! 🙂

  4. bill says:

    Chandoo, thank you for the kind invitation. I wish a special birthday day for your daughters, Nishanth & Nakshatra. Will you be serving "dudh pakh"?
    -bill

  5. Venus says:

    What a kind thought to invite us!
    I pray your family will be continually blessed.

  6. Jerryboy says:

    Thank you very much for the invitation, how I wish Philippines is just a Jeepney ride away from India. Best wishes for your baby girls and more blessings to come.

  7. Francis Chin says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    Thanks for the invitation ! You treat everyone that comes to your site as part of your family community. Me and my family wishes Nishanth & Nakshatra a very very happy birthday !!

    Though physically we cant be with you to celebrate the occasion, you know our blessing are with you !

    To be a father is not easy, furthermore you have to be a father to 2 kids !

    Francis
    Dad of 2 and 9 year old.

  8. Emma says:

    Hi Chandoo,
    It was very kind of you to invite us all along to the 'Extravaganza'. Like others that have commented here I too, am to far (Australia) to pop over for a piece of cake 🙂 Best wishes to you and your family on such a milestone.
    Emma
    (soon to be mum of 1!!!)

  9. Vijesh says:

    Dear Chandoo
    God bless Nishanth & Nakshatra. Wishing you and your family a very enjoyable first birthday party.
    (Father of a 9 month baby... wondering how you manage 2 !!! )

  10. Ninad Pradhan says:

    God bless the little ones. Have a blast.

  11. fred says:

    Hi Chandoo

    Happy birthday !
    Indeed children are a blessing and make our lives much more deeper.

  12. govi says:

    Wow! I wonder how that would look; all those Excel users partying with your cute kids!
    Enjoy the festivities and remember; they grow up really fast.

  13. Ram Kapoor says:

    Dear Chandoo,

    Thanks for your invitation!

    Please accept my wishes for Nishanth & Nakshatra, and a very very happy birthday to both of them.

    (Father of a 1 year old baby)

  14. Vijay says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    Thanks for the invitation. Wishing Nishanth and Nakshatra a very happy birthday and God bless all of you!

  15. Lynn says:

    Howdy Chandoo,
    Gosh, would love to attend the birthday party for your little blessings but I live in Dallas, TX. The children are beautiful. Thank you so much for the Excel information, tips, hints, special formulas, etc., you and your children are really a blessing. I look forward to your e-mails and check your web site frequently. Regards, Lynn

  16. Kalyan Verma says:

    Chandoo Garu,

    Your kids look adorable. Congratulations. My Aashirwaadam to both of them.

    Regards,
    Kalyan Verma

  17. Chandoo says:

    @all: Thank you every one for the wishes, blessings and prayers. We are very excited and busy with the birthday preps now. I will share a pic or two when its over... 🙂

  18. Nilesh Desai says:

    Wish you and your entire family all the blessings. May god provide your babies with all the love and charm in the entire universe.

  19. Helen says:

    Like Emma I am rather far away (South Africa), but best wishes to you and your family on this special occasion.
    (Mother of 7 and grandmother of 5)

  20. Rajatha says:

    Dear Chandoo,

    May God Bless your little ones with Good Health... Happy birthday to them from me... Wish i could be there but work doesn't permit me to travel 🙁

    And thanks again for treating all of us like your family

    Rajatha

  21. saurabh says:

    Sir.

    God bless the two little angels with all the happiness in the world.....

  22. Penny Bradley says:

    Wishing Nishanth and Nakshatra a very happy first birthday. My youngest has just turned 18, and I wish you and your family every happiness in the exciting journey ahead.

  23. Julien G says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    I'm reading your blog for more than a year now, and i'm very pleased by this invitation.
    I wish a very special Happy Birthday to the 2 little ones from Mauritius Island.

    If, for any reason, you are coming on the island in the future, feel free to drop me a mail.

    Have a nice party, and a nice year to come with Nishanth and Nakshatra.

  24. John Franco says:

    Happy birthday!

    Your babies are beautiful!

    This year is not possible for us to attend. My family will be there for your next family party.

    Enjoy the cake and dinner

  25. Pankaj Kumar says:

    May God Bless your little ones with Good Health… Happy birthday to them from me....I am also the father my little daughter named akanksha, she is 2.5 yrs old,,,,but i am unemployed 2 yrs ,,i know when u become a dad u r many hopes.

  26. V S Venkatraman says:

    Guru

    My belated wishes for your kids... I feel sorry for having missed them to wish to the right time.... May almighty shower all his blessings on your family.....

    With regards

  27. Gene Magerr says:

    Chandoo,

    Congratulations. Please give you children a big Happy Birthday (one day late) from me. Enjoy, they grow up very fast

    Gene

  28. Chandoo says:

    @all.. thanks for the wishes and blessings. We had a fantastic weekend with all the relatives, friends. Kids loved the cake, enjoyed the beach and had fun playing with gifts. Here are some photos..

    birthday-morningkids-at-beach

  29. Mick C says:

    Chandoo & family - greetings from Ireland, hope you enjoyed the day!

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