Place Value Chart
Type in any number below to instantly see every digit lined up under its place, from hundred millions down to thousandths.
| Hundred Millions | Ten Millions | Millions | Hundred Thousands | Ten Thousands | Thousands | Hundreds | Tens | Ones | Tenths | Hundredths | Thousandths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | – | – | – | – | 3 | 4 | 8 | 2 | . | 1 | 9 | – |
| 100M | 10M | 1M | 100K | 10K | 1K | 100 | 10 | 1 | 0.1 | 0.01 | 0.001 |
How Place Value Works
Every digit in a number carries two things: its face value (the digit itself, 0-9) and its place value (what that digit is actually worth, based on where it sits). Each column one step to the left is worth 10 times more than the column before it; each column one step to the right of the decimal point is worth 10 times less.
Worked example
Find the place value of each digit in 3,482.19.
- 3 is in the thousands place, worth 3,000
- 4 is in the hundreds place, worth 400
- 8 is in the tens place, worth 80
- 2 is in the ones place, worth 2
- 1 is in the tenths place, worth 0.1
- 9 is in the hundredths place, worth 0.09
Added together: 3,000 + 400 + 80 + 2 + 0.1 + 0.09 = 3,482.19, which is exactly the number you started with — that check is what the expanded form calculator does automatically.
Common mistake
A common mix-up is confusing place value with the digit itself. In 526, the 5 doesn't have a place value of 5 — it has a place value of 500, because it sits in the hundreds column. The digit alone (5) is only its face value.
Keep going
- A place value chart shows where each digit sits; the expanded form calculator takes that same breakdown and writes it out as a sum. Expanded Form Calculator
- Rounding always targets one specific place value; the rounding calculator uses the exact column names this chart lines up to round a number to any of them. Rounding Calculator
- Place value is the base-ten structure scientific notation compresses into a single power of ten; the scientific notation calculator shows that compressed form for very large or small numbers. Scientific Notation Calculator
Frequently Asked Questions
What is place value?
Place value is the idea that a digit's value depends on where it sits in a number. The same digit 5 is worth 5 in the ones place, 50 in the tens place, and 0.05 in the hundredths place, because each position to the left is worth 10 times more than the one before it, and each position to the right is worth 10 times less.
What are the place values in order?
Moving left from the decimal point: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions, ten millions, hundred millions, and beyond. Moving right of the decimal point: tenths, hundredths, thousandths, and beyond.
Why is there no 'oneths' place to match 'ones'?
The ones place already sits exactly on the decimal point, so it doesn't need a mirrored decimal name. The mirroring starts one column to the right, at tenths, which sits one position past the point the same way tens sits one position before it.
How do you read a number's place value chart?
Line the digits up under their column headers, right-aligned at the ones place. Whatever column a digit falls in tells you its value: a digit under "hundreds" is worth that many hundreds, no matter how many digits come before or after it.
What's the difference between place value and face value?
Face value is just the digit itself, with no context. Place value is what that digit is actually worth once its position is factored in. In 4,700, the 7 has a face value of 7 but a place value of 700, because it sits in the hundreds column.
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