Rounding Whole Numbers to Any Place

Rounding makes numbers simpler and easier to work with while keeping them close to their original value. You can round a multi-digit number to any place value, such as the nearest ten, hundred, thousand, or ten thousand.

The Rules of Rounding

To round a number to a specific place value, follow these simple steps:

1. Find the target place: Identify the digit in the place you are rounding to.
2. Look to the right: Look at the digit immediately to the right of your target place.
3. Round Up (5 or more): If the digit to the right is $5, 6, 7, 8,$ or $9$, add $1$ to your target digit.
4. Round Down (4 or less): If the digit to the right is $0, 1, 2, 3,$ or $4$, keep your target digit exactly the same.
5. Change to zeros: Change all the digits to the right of your target place to zeros.

Example Problems

Example 1: Round $74,582$ to the nearest thousand

• Target place: The digit in the thousands place is $4$.
• Look right: The digit to the right (in the hundreds place) is $5$.
• Rule: Because the digit is $5$, you round up. The $4$ becomes a $5$.
• Answer: $75,000$

Example 2: Round $345,678$ to the nearest ten thousand

• Target place: The digit in the ten thousands place is $4$.
• Look right: The digit to the right (in the thousands place) is $5$.
• Rule: Because the digit is $5$, you round up. The $4$ becomes a $5$.
• Answer: $350,000$

Example 3: Round $6,749$ to the nearest hundred

• Target place: The digit in the hundreds place is $7$.
• Look right: The digit to the right (in the tens place) is $4$.
• Rule: Because the digit is $4$, you round down. The $7$ stays the same.
• Answer: $6,700$