Rounded to the nearest tells you which place value to keep when you round an answer. Nearest tenth keeps one decimal place; nearest whole number keeps none. Look at the next digit to the right: 5 or more rounds up, 4 or less rounds down. So 3.14159 becomes 3.14 to the nearest hundredth.
In Spanish
redondeado a la más cercana (al décimo, entero…)
Also called
round to the nearest, to the nearest tenth, to the nearest whole number, nearest hundredth
The same number rounds differently depending on the place named. In each case, the one digit to the right of that place decides: 5 or more rounds up.
Formal definition and notation
To round a numberx to the nearest unit u (such as 100, 1, 0.1 or 0.01) is to replace x with the multiple of u closest to it. When x is exactly halfway between two multiples, the usual school convention rounds up (to the multiple farther from zero for positive numbers). The result has no nonzero digits to the right of the place named by u.
rounding is the general skill. Rounded to the nearest is the instruction that names the place to round to, which changes the answer: 2,746.381 is 2,746 to the nearest whole number but 2,700 to the nearest hundred.
Rounded to the Nearestvs.Truncating
Truncating just chops digits off: 58.46 truncated to tenths is 58.4. Rounded to the nearest tenth it is 58.5, because the next digit, 6, rounds up.
An estimate is any reasonable approximate answer, often from rounding the inputs first. A rounded to the nearest answer comes from rounding the exact result once, at the end.
Quick check: 3 questions
Question 1 of 3
Round 0.6372 to the nearest hundredth.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Hundredths digit 3, next digit 7, so round up to 0.64. 0.63 rounds the wrong way, 0.637 is the nearest thousandth, and 0.6 the nearest tenth.
Question 2 of 3
A bill of 87.35 dollars is split evenly among 3 people. How much does each pay, rounded to the nearest cent?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B.87.35 ÷ 3 = 29.1166…. The hundredths digit is 1 and the next digit is 6, so round up to 29.12. 29.11 just chops off digits, 29.1 is the nearest tenth, and 29.00 is the nearest whole dollar.
Question 3 of 3
Which number rounds to 4.3 when rounded to the nearest tenth?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. 4.349 has hundredths digit 4, so it rounds down to 4.3. 4.35 rounds up to 4.4, and 4.24 and 4.249 both round to 4.2 (chain rounding 4.249 to 4.25 and then 4.3 is the trap).
Rounded to the Nearest: frequently asked questions
What does rounded to the nearest tenth mean?
It means keep one digit after the decimal point, choosing the tenth that is closest to the exact value. Look at the hundredths digit: if it is 5 or more, add 1 to the tenths digit; if it is 4 or less, keep the tenths digit. Then drop everything after it. So 7.462 becomes 7.5 and 7.438 becomes 7.4.
What does rounded to the nearest whole number mean?
It means give the integer closest to the exact value, with no decimal part. Look at the tenths digit: 5 or more rounds up, 4 or less rounds down. So 12.5 becomes 13, 12.49 becomes 12, and 99.7 becomes 100. On tests, round only after finishing every step of the calculation.
When should I round on a test?
Round once, at the very end, unless the question tells you otherwise. Keep full calculator values, or exact forms like 16π, for every step in between. Rounding early can change the final digit and turn a right method into a wrong answer choice. Then round to exactly the place the question names.
Updated November 2026·Reviewed by the Effortless Math team·Standards: CCSS 3.NBT.A.1, CCSS 5.NBT.A.4
Cite this entry
Effortless Math Team. “Rounded to the Nearest.” Effortless Math Dictionary. Updated November 2026. https://www.effortlessmath.com/math-dictionary/rounded-to-the-nearest/
Flashcard
TermRounded to the Nearest58.463 → nearest tenth
DefinitionKeep the named place and look at the next digit: 5 or more rounds up. 58.463 to the nearest tenth is 58.5.
NumberA number is an amount or value used to count, measure, order and compare. We write numbers with digits (7), words (seven) or other symbols, but the number itself is the amount: 7 dots, the word seven and the numeral 7 all show the same number. Numbers include whole numbers, fractions, decimals and negatives.Number System · Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2RoundingRounding replaces a number with a nearby number that is easier to use, to a chosen place value. Look at the digit immediately to the right of that place: 5 or more rounds up, 4 or less rounds down. So 47 rounds to 50 to the nearest ten, and 3.68 rounds to 3.7 to the nearest tenth.Number System · Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5TenthsTenths are the parts you get when one whole is split into 10 equal parts; each part is one tenth, written 110 or 0.1. The tenths place is the first digit to the right of the decimal point, so in 4.7 the 7 means 7 tenths, or 0.7.Number System · Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5Area of a CircleThe area of a circle is the amount of flat space inside the circle, measured in square units. It equals pi times the radius squared: A = π r2. A circle with radius 5 cm has area 25π, about 78.5 square centimeters. If you know the diameter, halve it first to get the radius.Geometry · Grade 7, Grade 8, GeometryRadiusThe radius is a line segment from the center of a circle to any point on the circle, or the length of that segment. The radius is half the diameter: if the diameter is 10, the radius is 5. All radii in the same circle have equal length, and r is the radius in C = 2π r.Geometry · Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8HundredthsHundredths are the parts you get when one whole is split into 100 equal parts; one hundredth is 1100 or 0.01. The hundredths place is the second digit to the right of the decimal point, so in 3.47 the 7 means 7 hundredths. One cent is one hundredth of a dollar.Number System · Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6SquareA square is a quadrilateral with four equal sides and four right angles. It is a special rectangle and a special rhombus at the same time. For a square with side s, the perimeter is 4s, the area is s2, and each diagonal is s√2.Geometry · Kindergarten, Grade 2, Grade 3CentimeterA centimeter is a metric unit of length equal to one hundredth of a meter, about the width of a fingernail. Its symbol is cm. There are 100 centimeters in 1 meter and 10 millimeters in 1 centimeter, and 1 inch equals 2.54 centimeters.Measurement · Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5MileA mile (mi) is a US customary unit of length for long distances, equal to 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards. One mile is about 1.61 kilometers, so it is longer than a kilometer. Road distances and speed limits in the United States use miles and miles per hour.Measurement · Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6Whole NumberA whole number is 0 or a positive counting number: 0, 1, 2, 3, and so on. Whole numbers do not include fractions, decimals, or negative numbers, so 12 is a whole number but 8.5, 34 and −3 are not. Every whole number is also an integer.Number System · Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5EstimateAn estimate is an answer that is close to the exact one, and to estimate is to find an answer that is close enough, usually by rounding or using friendly numbers. For example, 49 × 21 is about 50 × 20 = 1000. Estimation helps you check whether an exact answer is reasonable.Problem Solving · Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5Decimal PointA decimal point is the dot that separates the whole-number part of a number from its fractional part. Digits to its left are ones, tens and hundreds; digits to its right are tenths, hundredths and thousandths. In 46.25 the point sits between 6 ones and 2 tenths, and you read it aloud as “and”.Number System · Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6Place ValuePlace value is the value of a digit based on its position in a number. In 3,507 the 5 is worth 500, because it sits in the hundreds place. Each place is worth 10 times the place to its right: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, and after the decimal point, tenths and hundredths.Number System · Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5DigitA digit is one of the ten symbols 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 that we use to write every number. The number 507 has three digits: 5, 0 and 7. What a digit is worth depends on its place: in 507, the 5 stands for 5 hundreds, or 500.Number System · Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3DecimalA decimal is a number written with a decimal point to show parts of a whole. Decimals use place value to represent tenths, hundredths, thousandths and more: in 3.14, the 1 means 1 tenth and the 4 means 4 hundredths. So 0.75 = 75100, and 0.5 is one half.Number System · Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6ReasonablenessReasonableness is checking whether an answer makes sense for the problem before you accept it. Estimate first to see about how big the answer should be, then check the units and the context: a negative length, 3.5 people or 800 dollars for one pencil is not reasonable. A correctly calculated number can still fail this check.Problem Solving · Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5Scientific NotationScientific notation writes a number as a value from 1 to less than 10 times a power of 10, such as 5.4 × 103 for 5,400. The exponent records how far the decimal point moved: positive for large numbers and negative for numbers between 0 and 1, as in 0.0062 = 6.2 × 10−3.Number System · Grade 8, Algebra 1Word ProblemA word problem describes a math situation in everyday language instead of only symbols. To solve one, identify what the problem is asking you to find, translate the words into an expression or equation, solve it, and check that the answer makes sense in the story. It is also called a story problem or a real-world problem.Problem Solving · Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5