Get the value of a DataFrame cell in Python Pandas

David Y.

—November 15, 2023

The ProblemThe Problem

How can I retrieve the value of a single cell in a Python Pandas DataFrame? I want just the value, not a new DataFrame with only one cell.

The SolutionThe Solution

We can retrieve the value of a single DataFrame cell using the DataFrame.at property, providing the row and column labels for the element we want to access:

import pandas

# Set up and print the DataFrame
data = {
    "Product": ["Apple", "Orange", "Pear"],
    "Cost Price": [1, 2, 3],
    "Selling Price": [2, 3, 4],
}
df = pandas.DataFrame(data)
print(df)
print()

# will print:
#   Product  Cost Price  Selling Price
# 0   Apple           1              2
# 1  Orange           2              3
# 2    Pear           3              4

# Retrieve "Pear"
df_cell = df.at[2, "Product"]
print(df_cell)  # will print "Pear"

Note that the value 2 here is being interpreted as a row label, rather than a row number. If we want to access the value of a cell using the indices of its row and column rather than the label, we can use DataFrame.iat:

# Retrieve "Pear"
df_cell = df.iat[2, 0]
print(df_cell) # will print "Pear"

We can also use DataFrame.loc in place of DataFrame.at, or DataFrame.iloc in place of DataFrame.iat:

# Retrieve "Pear"
df_cell = df.loc[2, "Product"]
print(df_cell)  # will print "Pear"

# Retrieve "Pear"
df_cell_by_index = df.iloc[2, 0]
print(df_cell_by_index)  # will print "Pear"

DataFrame.loc and DataFrame.iloc are more flexible, general accessors, which can both be used to select arbitrarily sized portions of a DataFrame. DataFrame.at and DataFrame.iat, on the other hand, are both optimized for retrieving the value of a single cell, so the versions of our code using one of these functions will run faster. This will be especially noticeable with large DataFrames.