[python] Getting key with maximum value in dictionary?

I have a dictionary: keys are strings, values are integers.

Example:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}

I'd like to get 'b' as an answer, since it's the key with a higher value.

I did the following, using an intermediate list with reversed key-value tuples:

inverse = [(value, key) for key, value in stats.items()]
print max(inverse)[1]

Is that one the better (or even more elegant) approach?

This question is related to python dictionary max

The answer is


key, value = max(stats.iteritems(), key=lambda x:x[1])

If you don't care about value (I'd be surprised, but) you can do:

key, _ = max(stats.iteritems(), key=lambda x:x[1])

I like the tuple unpacking better than a [0] subscript at the end of the expression. I never like the readability of lambda expressions very much, but find this one better than the operator.itemgetter(1) IMHO.


Per the iterated solutions via comments in the selected answer...

In Python 3:

max(stats.keys(), key=(lambda k: stats[k]))

In Python 2:

max(stats.iterkeys(), key=(lambda k: stats[k]))

Example:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}

if you wanna find the max value with its key, maybe follwing could be simple, without any relevant functions.

max(stats, key=stats.get)

the output is the key which has the max value.


d = {'A': 4,'B':10}

min_v = min(zip(d.values(), d.keys()))
# min_v is (4,'A')

max_v = max(zip(d.values(), d.keys()))
# max_v is (10,'B')

max(stats, key=stats.get)

Here is another one:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}
max(stats.iterkeys(), key=lambda k: stats[k])

The function key simply returns the value that should be used for ranking and max() returns the demanded element right away.


max(stats, key=stats.get) if stats else None

stats can be an empty dictionary as well and max(stats, key=stats.get) will break in that situation.


You can use:

max(d, key = d.get) 
# which is equivalent to 
max(d, key = lambda k : d.get(k))

To return the key, value pair use:

max(d.items(), key = lambda k : k[1])

+1 to @Aric Coady's simplest solution.
And also one way to random select one of keys with max value in the dictionary:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100, 'd':3000}

import random
maxV = max(stats.values())
# Choice is one of the keys with max value
choice = random.choice([key for key, value in stats.items() if value == maxV])

max(stats, key=stats.get) if stats else None

stats can be an empty dictionary as well and max(stats, key=stats.get) will break in that situation.


I have tested MANY variants, and this is the fastest way to return the key of dict with the max value:

def keywithmaxval(d):
     """ a) create a list of the dict's keys and values; 
         b) return the key with the max value"""  
     v=list(d.values())
     k=list(d.keys())
     return k[v.index(max(v))]

To give you an idea, here are some candidate methods:

def f1():  
     v=list(d1.values())
     k=list(d1.keys())
     return k[v.index(max(v))]

def f2():
    d3={v:k for k,v in d1.items()}
    return d3[max(d3)]

def f3():
    return list(filter(lambda t: t[1]==max(d1.values()), d1.items()))[0][0]    

def f3b():
    # same as f3 but remove the call to max from the lambda
    m=max(d1.values())
    return list(filter(lambda t: t[1]==m, d1.items()))[0][0]        

def f4():
    return [k for k,v in d1.items() if v==max(d1.values())][0]    

def f4b():
    # same as f4 but remove the max from the comprehension
    m=max(d1.values())
    return [k for k,v in d1.items() if v==m][0]        

def f5():
    return max(d1.items(), key=operator.itemgetter(1))[0]    

def f6():
    return max(d1,key=d1.get)     

def f7():
     """ a) create a list of the dict's keys and values; 
         b) return the key with the max value"""    
     v=list(d1.values())
     return list(d1.keys())[v.index(max(v))]    

def f8():
     return max(d1, key=lambda k: d1[k])     

tl=[f1,f2, f3b, f4b, f5, f6, f7, f8, f4,f3]     
cmpthese.cmpthese(tl,c=100) 

The test dictionary:

d1={1: 1, 2: 2, 3: 8, 4: 3, 5: 6, 6: 9, 7: 17, 8: 4, 9: 20, 10: 7, 11: 15, 
    12: 10, 13: 10, 14: 18, 15: 18, 16: 5, 17: 13, 18: 21, 19: 21, 20: 8, 
    21: 8, 22: 16, 23: 16, 24: 11, 25: 24, 26: 11, 27: 112, 28: 19, 29: 19, 
    30: 19, 3077: 36, 32: 6, 33: 27, 34: 14, 35: 14, 36: 22, 4102: 39, 38: 22, 
    39: 35, 40: 9, 41: 110, 42: 9, 43: 30, 44: 17, 45: 17, 46: 17, 47: 105, 48: 12, 
    49: 25, 50: 25, 51: 25, 52: 12, 53: 12, 54: 113, 1079: 50, 56: 20, 57: 33, 
    58: 20, 59: 33, 60: 20, 61: 20, 62: 108, 63: 108, 64: 7, 65: 28, 66: 28, 67: 28, 
    68: 15, 69: 15, 70: 15, 71: 103, 72: 23, 73: 116, 74: 23, 75: 15, 76: 23, 77: 23, 
    78: 36, 79: 36, 80: 10, 81: 23, 82: 111, 83: 111, 84: 10, 85: 10, 86: 31, 87: 31, 
    88: 18, 89: 31, 90: 18, 91: 93, 92: 18, 93: 18, 94: 106, 95: 106, 96: 13, 9232: 35, 
    98: 26, 99: 26, 100: 26, 101: 26, 103: 88, 104: 13, 106: 13, 107: 101, 1132: 63, 
    2158: 51, 112: 21, 113: 13, 116: 21, 118: 34, 119: 34, 7288: 45, 121: 96, 122: 21, 
    124: 109, 125: 109, 128: 8, 1154: 32, 131: 29, 134: 29, 136: 16, 137: 91, 140: 16, 
    142: 104, 143: 104, 146: 117, 148: 24, 149: 24, 152: 24, 154: 24, 155: 86, 160: 11, 
    161: 99, 1186: 76, 3238: 49, 167: 68, 170: 11, 172: 32, 175: 81, 178: 32, 179: 32, 
    182: 94, 184: 19, 31: 107, 188: 107, 190: 107, 196: 27, 197: 27, 202: 27, 206: 89, 
    208: 14, 214: 102, 215: 102, 220: 115, 37: 22, 224: 22, 226: 14, 232: 22, 233: 84, 
    238: 35, 242: 97, 244: 22, 250: 110, 251: 66, 1276: 58, 256: 9, 2308: 33, 262: 30, 
    263: 79, 268: 30, 269: 30, 274: 92, 1300: 27, 280: 17, 283: 61, 286: 105, 292: 118, 
    296: 25, 298: 25, 304: 25, 310: 87, 1336: 71, 319: 56, 322: 100, 323: 100, 325: 25, 
    55: 113, 334: 69, 340: 12, 1367: 40, 350: 82, 358: 33, 364: 95, 376: 108, 
    377: 64, 2429: 46, 394: 28, 395: 77, 404: 28, 412: 90, 1438: 53, 425: 59, 430: 103, 
    1456: 97, 433: 28, 445: 72, 448: 23, 466: 85, 479: 54, 484: 98, 485: 98, 488: 23, 
    6154: 37, 502: 67, 4616: 34, 526: 80, 538: 31, 566: 62, 3644: 44, 577: 31, 97: 119, 
    592: 26, 593: 75, 1619: 48, 638: 57, 646: 101, 650: 26, 110: 114, 668: 70, 2734: 41, 
    700: 83, 1732: 30, 719: 52, 728: 96, 754: 65, 1780: 74, 4858: 47, 130: 29, 790: 78, 
    1822: 43, 2051: 38, 808: 29, 850: 60, 866: 29, 890: 73, 911: 42, 958: 55, 970: 99, 
    976: 24, 166: 112}

And the test results under Python 3.2:

    rate/sec       f4      f3    f3b     f8     f5     f2    f4b     f6     f7     f1
f4       454       --   -2.5% -96.9% -97.5% -98.6% -98.6% -98.7% -98.7% -98.9% -99.0%
f3       466     2.6%      -- -96.8% -97.4% -98.6% -98.6% -98.6% -98.7% -98.9% -99.0%
f3b   14,715  3138.9% 3057.4%     -- -18.6% -55.5% -56.0% -56.4% -58.3% -63.8% -68.4%
f8    18,070  3877.3% 3777.3%  22.8%     -- -45.4% -45.9% -46.5% -48.8% -55.5% -61.2%
f5    33,091  7183.7% 7000.5% 124.9%  83.1%     --  -1.0%  -2.0%  -6.3% -18.6% -29.0%
f2    33,423  7256.8% 7071.8% 127.1%  85.0%   1.0%     --  -1.0%  -5.3% -17.7% -28.3%
f4b   33,762  7331.4% 7144.6% 129.4%  86.8%   2.0%   1.0%     --  -4.4% -16.9% -27.5%
f6    35,300  7669.8% 7474.4% 139.9%  95.4%   6.7%   5.6%   4.6%     -- -13.1% -24.2%
f7    40,631  8843.2% 8618.3% 176.1% 124.9%  22.8%  21.6%  20.3%  15.1%     -- -12.8%
f1    46,598 10156.7% 9898.8% 216.7% 157.9%  40.8%  39.4%  38.0%  32.0%  14.7%     --

And under Python 2.7:

    rate/sec       f3       f4     f8    f3b     f6     f5     f2    f4b     f7     f1
f3       384       --    -2.6% -97.1% -97.2% -97.9% -97.9% -98.0% -98.2% -98.5% -99.2%
f4       394     2.6%       -- -97.0% -97.2% -97.8% -97.9% -98.0% -98.1% -98.5% -99.1%
f8    13,079  3303.3%  3216.1%     --  -5.6% -28.6% -29.9% -32.8% -38.3% -49.7% -71.2%
f3b   13,852  3504.5%  3412.1%   5.9%     -- -24.4% -25.8% -28.9% -34.6% -46.7% -69.5%
f6    18,325  4668.4%  4546.2%  40.1%  32.3%     --  -1.8%  -5.9% -13.5% -29.5% -59.6%
f5    18,664  4756.5%  4632.0%  42.7%  34.7%   1.8%     --  -4.1% -11.9% -28.2% -58.8%
f2    19,470  4966.4%  4836.5%  48.9%  40.6%   6.2%   4.3%     --  -8.1% -25.1% -57.1%
f4b   21,187  5413.0%  5271.7%  62.0%  52.9%  15.6%  13.5%   8.8%     -- -18.5% -53.3%
f7    26,002  6665.8%  6492.4%  98.8%  87.7%  41.9%  39.3%  33.5%  22.7%     -- -42.7%
f1    45,354 11701.5% 11399.0% 246.8% 227.4% 147.5% 143.0% 132.9% 114.1%  74.4%     -- 

You can see that f1 is the fastest under Python 3.2 and 2.7 (or, more completely, keywithmaxval at the top of this post)


key, value = max(stats.iteritems(), key=lambda x:x[1])

If you don't care about value (I'd be surprised, but) you can do:

key, _ = max(stats.iteritems(), key=lambda x:x[1])

I like the tuple unpacking better than a [0] subscript at the end of the expression. I never like the readability of lambda expressions very much, but find this one better than the operator.itemgetter(1) IMHO.


If you need to know only a key with the max value you can do it without iterkeys or iteritems because iteration through dictionary in Python is iteration through it's keys.

max_key = max(stats, key=lambda k: stats[k])

EDIT:

From comments, @user1274878 :

I am new to python. Can you please explain your answer in steps?

Yep...

max

max(iterable[, key])

max(arg1, arg2, *args[, key])

Return the largest item in an iterable or the largest of two or more arguments.

The optional key argument describes how to compare elements to get maximum among them:

lambda <item>: return <a result of operation with item> 

Returned values will be compared.

Dict

Python dict is a hash table. A key of dict is a hash of an object declared as a key. Due to performance reasons iteration though a dict implemented as iteration through it's keys.

Therefore we can use it to rid operation of obtaining a keys list.

Closure

A function defined inside another function is called a nested function. Nested functions can access variables of the enclosing scope.

The stats variable available through __closure__ attribute of the lambda function as a pointer to the value of the variable defined in the parent scope.


Here is another one:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}
max(stats.iterkeys(), key=lambda k: stats[k])

The function key simply returns the value that should be used for ranking and max() returns the demanded element right away.


Much simpler to understand approach:

dict = { 'a':302, 'e':53, 'g':302, 'h':100 }
max_value_keys = [key for key in dict.keys() if dict[key] == max(dict.values())]
print(max_value_keys) # prints a list of keys with max value

Output: ['a', 'g']

Now you can choose only one key:

maximum = dict[max_value_keys[0]]

I tested the accepted answer AND @thewolf's fastest solution against a very basic loop and the loop was faster than both:

import time
import operator


d = {"a"+str(i): i for i in range(1000000)}

def t1(dct):
    mx = float("-inf")
    key = None
    for k,v in dct.items():
        if v > mx:
            mx = v
            key = k
    return key

def t2(dct):
    v=list(dct.values())
    k=list(dct.keys())
    return k[v.index(max(v))]

def t3(dct):
    return max(dct.items(),key=operator.itemgetter(1))[0]

start = time.time()
for i in range(25):
    m = t1(d)
end = time.time()
print ("Iterating: "+str(end-start))

start = time.time()
for i in range(25):
    m = t2(d)
end = time.time()
print ("List creating: "+str(end-start))

start = time.time()
for i in range(25):
    m = t3(d)
end = time.time()
print ("Accepted answer: "+str(end-start))

results:

Iterating: 3.8201940059661865
List creating: 6.928712844848633
Accepted answer: 5.464320182800293

In the case you have more than one key with the same value, for example:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100, 'd':3000, 'e':3000}

You could get a collection with all the keys with max value as follow:

from collections import defaultdict
from collections import OrderedDict

groupedByValue = defaultdict(list)
for key, value in sorted(stats.items()):
    groupedByValue[value].append(key)

# {1000: ['a'], 3000: ['b', 'd', 'e'], 100: ['c']}

groupedByValue[max(groupedByValue)]
# ['b', 'd', 'e']

max(stats, key=stats.get)

key, value = max(stats.iteritems(), key=lambda x:x[1])

If you don't care about value (I'd be surprised, but) you can do:

key, _ = max(stats.iteritems(), key=lambda x:x[1])

I like the tuple unpacking better than a [0] subscript at the end of the expression. I never like the readability of lambda expressions very much, but find this one better than the operator.itemgetter(1) IMHO.


max(stats, key=stats.get)

To get the maximum key/value of the dictionary stats:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}
  • Based on keys

>>> max(stats.items(), key = lambda x: x[0]) ('c', 100)

  • Based on values

>>> max(stats.items(), key = lambda x: x[1]) ('b', 3000)

Of course, if you want to get only the key or value from the result, you can use tuple indexing. For Example, to get the key corresponding to the maximum value:

>>> max(stats.items(), key = lambda x: x[1])[0] 'b'

Explanation

The dictionary method items() in Python 3 returns a view object of the dictionary. When this view object is iterated over, by the max function, it yields the dictionary items as tuples of the form (key, value).

>>> list(stats.items()) [('c', 100), ('b', 3000), ('a', 1000)]

When you use the lambda expression lambda x: x[1], in each iteration, x is one of these tuples (key, value). So, by choosing the right index, you select whether you want to compare by keys or by values.

Python 2

For Python 2.2+ releases, the same code will work. However, it is better to use iteritems() dictionary method instead of items() for performance.

Notes


+1 to @Aric Coady's simplest solution.
And also one way to random select one of keys with max value in the dictionary:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100, 'd':3000}

import random
maxV = max(stats.values())
# Choice is one of the keys with max value
choice = random.choice([key for key, value in stats.items() if value == maxV])

To get the maximum key/value of the dictionary stats:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}
  • Based on keys

>>> max(stats.items(), key = lambda x: x[0]) ('c', 100)

  • Based on values

>>> max(stats.items(), key = lambda x: x[1]) ('b', 3000)

Of course, if you want to get only the key or value from the result, you can use tuple indexing. For Example, to get the key corresponding to the maximum value:

>>> max(stats.items(), key = lambda x: x[1])[0] 'b'

Explanation

The dictionary method items() in Python 3 returns a view object of the dictionary. When this view object is iterated over, by the max function, it yields the dictionary items as tuples of the form (key, value).

>>> list(stats.items()) [('c', 100), ('b', 3000), ('a', 1000)]

When you use the lambda expression lambda x: x[1], in each iteration, x is one of these tuples (key, value). So, by choosing the right index, you select whether you want to compare by keys or by values.

Python 2

For Python 2.2+ releases, the same code will work. However, it is better to use iteritems() dictionary method instead of items() for performance.

Notes


max((value, key) for key, value in stats.items())[1]


For scientific python users, here is a simple solution using Pandas:

import pandas as pd
stats = {'a': 1000, 'b': 3000, 'c': 100}
series = pd.Series(stats)
series.idxmax()

>>> b

key, value = max(stats.iteritems(), key=lambda x:x[1])

If you don't care about value (I'd be surprised, but) you can do:

key, _ = max(stats.iteritems(), key=lambda x:x[1])

I like the tuple unpacking better than a [0] subscript at the end of the expression. I never like the readability of lambda expressions very much, but find this one better than the operator.itemgetter(1) IMHO.


I have tested MANY variants, and this is the fastest way to return the key of dict with the max value:

def keywithmaxval(d):
     """ a) create a list of the dict's keys and values; 
         b) return the key with the max value"""  
     v=list(d.values())
     k=list(d.keys())
     return k[v.index(max(v))]

To give you an idea, here are some candidate methods:

def f1():  
     v=list(d1.values())
     k=list(d1.keys())
     return k[v.index(max(v))]

def f2():
    d3={v:k for k,v in d1.items()}
    return d3[max(d3)]

def f3():
    return list(filter(lambda t: t[1]==max(d1.values()), d1.items()))[0][0]    

def f3b():
    # same as f3 but remove the call to max from the lambda
    m=max(d1.values())
    return list(filter(lambda t: t[1]==m, d1.items()))[0][0]        

def f4():
    return [k for k,v in d1.items() if v==max(d1.values())][0]    

def f4b():
    # same as f4 but remove the max from the comprehension
    m=max(d1.values())
    return [k for k,v in d1.items() if v==m][0]        

def f5():
    return max(d1.items(), key=operator.itemgetter(1))[0]    

def f6():
    return max(d1,key=d1.get)     

def f7():
     """ a) create a list of the dict's keys and values; 
         b) return the key with the max value"""    
     v=list(d1.values())
     return list(d1.keys())[v.index(max(v))]    

def f8():
     return max(d1, key=lambda k: d1[k])     

tl=[f1,f2, f3b, f4b, f5, f6, f7, f8, f4,f3]     
cmpthese.cmpthese(tl,c=100) 

The test dictionary:

d1={1: 1, 2: 2, 3: 8, 4: 3, 5: 6, 6: 9, 7: 17, 8: 4, 9: 20, 10: 7, 11: 15, 
    12: 10, 13: 10, 14: 18, 15: 18, 16: 5, 17: 13, 18: 21, 19: 21, 20: 8, 
    21: 8, 22: 16, 23: 16, 24: 11, 25: 24, 26: 11, 27: 112, 28: 19, 29: 19, 
    30: 19, 3077: 36, 32: 6, 33: 27, 34: 14, 35: 14, 36: 22, 4102: 39, 38: 22, 
    39: 35, 40: 9, 41: 110, 42: 9, 43: 30, 44: 17, 45: 17, 46: 17, 47: 105, 48: 12, 
    49: 25, 50: 25, 51: 25, 52: 12, 53: 12, 54: 113, 1079: 50, 56: 20, 57: 33, 
    58: 20, 59: 33, 60: 20, 61: 20, 62: 108, 63: 108, 64: 7, 65: 28, 66: 28, 67: 28, 
    68: 15, 69: 15, 70: 15, 71: 103, 72: 23, 73: 116, 74: 23, 75: 15, 76: 23, 77: 23, 
    78: 36, 79: 36, 80: 10, 81: 23, 82: 111, 83: 111, 84: 10, 85: 10, 86: 31, 87: 31, 
    88: 18, 89: 31, 90: 18, 91: 93, 92: 18, 93: 18, 94: 106, 95: 106, 96: 13, 9232: 35, 
    98: 26, 99: 26, 100: 26, 101: 26, 103: 88, 104: 13, 106: 13, 107: 101, 1132: 63, 
    2158: 51, 112: 21, 113: 13, 116: 21, 118: 34, 119: 34, 7288: 45, 121: 96, 122: 21, 
    124: 109, 125: 109, 128: 8, 1154: 32, 131: 29, 134: 29, 136: 16, 137: 91, 140: 16, 
    142: 104, 143: 104, 146: 117, 148: 24, 149: 24, 152: 24, 154: 24, 155: 86, 160: 11, 
    161: 99, 1186: 76, 3238: 49, 167: 68, 170: 11, 172: 32, 175: 81, 178: 32, 179: 32, 
    182: 94, 184: 19, 31: 107, 188: 107, 190: 107, 196: 27, 197: 27, 202: 27, 206: 89, 
    208: 14, 214: 102, 215: 102, 220: 115, 37: 22, 224: 22, 226: 14, 232: 22, 233: 84, 
    238: 35, 242: 97, 244: 22, 250: 110, 251: 66, 1276: 58, 256: 9, 2308: 33, 262: 30, 
    263: 79, 268: 30, 269: 30, 274: 92, 1300: 27, 280: 17, 283: 61, 286: 105, 292: 118, 
    296: 25, 298: 25, 304: 25, 310: 87, 1336: 71, 319: 56, 322: 100, 323: 100, 325: 25, 
    55: 113, 334: 69, 340: 12, 1367: 40, 350: 82, 358: 33, 364: 95, 376: 108, 
    377: 64, 2429: 46, 394: 28, 395: 77, 404: 28, 412: 90, 1438: 53, 425: 59, 430: 103, 
    1456: 97, 433: 28, 445: 72, 448: 23, 466: 85, 479: 54, 484: 98, 485: 98, 488: 23, 
    6154: 37, 502: 67, 4616: 34, 526: 80, 538: 31, 566: 62, 3644: 44, 577: 31, 97: 119, 
    592: 26, 593: 75, 1619: 48, 638: 57, 646: 101, 650: 26, 110: 114, 668: 70, 2734: 41, 
    700: 83, 1732: 30, 719: 52, 728: 96, 754: 65, 1780: 74, 4858: 47, 130: 29, 790: 78, 
    1822: 43, 2051: 38, 808: 29, 850: 60, 866: 29, 890: 73, 911: 42, 958: 55, 970: 99, 
    976: 24, 166: 112}

And the test results under Python 3.2:

    rate/sec       f4      f3    f3b     f8     f5     f2    f4b     f6     f7     f1
f4       454       --   -2.5% -96.9% -97.5% -98.6% -98.6% -98.7% -98.7% -98.9% -99.0%
f3       466     2.6%      -- -96.8% -97.4% -98.6% -98.6% -98.6% -98.7% -98.9% -99.0%
f3b   14,715  3138.9% 3057.4%     -- -18.6% -55.5% -56.0% -56.4% -58.3% -63.8% -68.4%
f8    18,070  3877.3% 3777.3%  22.8%     -- -45.4% -45.9% -46.5% -48.8% -55.5% -61.2%
f5    33,091  7183.7% 7000.5% 124.9%  83.1%     --  -1.0%  -2.0%  -6.3% -18.6% -29.0%
f2    33,423  7256.8% 7071.8% 127.1%  85.0%   1.0%     --  -1.0%  -5.3% -17.7% -28.3%
f4b   33,762  7331.4% 7144.6% 129.4%  86.8%   2.0%   1.0%     --  -4.4% -16.9% -27.5%
f6    35,300  7669.8% 7474.4% 139.9%  95.4%   6.7%   5.6%   4.6%     -- -13.1% -24.2%
f7    40,631  8843.2% 8618.3% 176.1% 124.9%  22.8%  21.6%  20.3%  15.1%     -- -12.8%
f1    46,598 10156.7% 9898.8% 216.7% 157.9%  40.8%  39.4%  38.0%  32.0%  14.7%     --

And under Python 2.7:

    rate/sec       f3       f4     f8    f3b     f6     f5     f2    f4b     f7     f1
f3       384       --    -2.6% -97.1% -97.2% -97.9% -97.9% -98.0% -98.2% -98.5% -99.2%
f4       394     2.6%       -- -97.0% -97.2% -97.8% -97.9% -98.0% -98.1% -98.5% -99.1%
f8    13,079  3303.3%  3216.1%     --  -5.6% -28.6% -29.9% -32.8% -38.3% -49.7% -71.2%
f3b   13,852  3504.5%  3412.1%   5.9%     -- -24.4% -25.8% -28.9% -34.6% -46.7% -69.5%
f6    18,325  4668.4%  4546.2%  40.1%  32.3%     --  -1.8%  -5.9% -13.5% -29.5% -59.6%
f5    18,664  4756.5%  4632.0%  42.7%  34.7%   1.8%     --  -4.1% -11.9% -28.2% -58.8%
f2    19,470  4966.4%  4836.5%  48.9%  40.6%   6.2%   4.3%     --  -8.1% -25.1% -57.1%
f4b   21,187  5413.0%  5271.7%  62.0%  52.9%  15.6%  13.5%   8.8%     -- -18.5% -53.3%
f7    26,002  6665.8%  6492.4%  98.8%  87.7%  41.9%  39.3%  33.5%  22.7%     -- -42.7%
f1    45,354 11701.5% 11399.0% 246.8% 227.4% 147.5% 143.0% 132.9% 114.1%  74.4%     -- 

You can see that f1 is the fastest under Python 3.2 and 2.7 (or, more completely, keywithmaxval at the top of this post)


Much simpler to understand approach:

dict = { 'a':302, 'e':53, 'g':302, 'h':100 }
max_value_keys = [key for key in dict.keys() if dict[key] == max(dict.values())]
print(max_value_keys) # prints a list of keys with max value

Output: ['a', 'g']

Now you can choose only one key:

maximum = dict[max_value_keys[0]]

With collections.Counter you could do

>>> import collections
>>> stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}
>>> stats = collections.Counter(stats)
>>> stats.most_common(1)
[('b', 3000)]

If appropriate, you could simply start with an empty collections.Counter and add to it

>>> stats = collections.Counter()
>>> stats['a'] += 1
:
etc. 

Counter = 0
for word in stats.keys():
    if stats[word]> counter:
        Counter = stats [word]
print Counter

Per the iterated solutions via comments in the selected answer...

In Python 3:

max(stats.keys(), key=(lambda k: stats[k]))

In Python 2:

max(stats.iterkeys(), key=(lambda k: stats[k]))

max((value, key) for key, value in stats.items())[1]


How about:

 max(zip(stats.keys(), stats.values()), key=lambda t : t[1])[0]

In the case you have more than one key with the same value, for example:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100, 'd':3000, 'e':3000}

You could get a collection with all the keys with max value as follow:

from collections import defaultdict
from collections import OrderedDict

groupedByValue = defaultdict(list)
for key, value in sorted(stats.items()):
    groupedByValue[value].append(key)

# {1000: ['a'], 3000: ['b', 'd', 'e'], 100: ['c']}

groupedByValue[max(groupedByValue)]
# ['b', 'd', 'e']

I got here looking for how to return mydict.keys() based on the value of mydict.values(). Instead of just the one key returned, I was looking to return the top x number of values.

This solution is simpler than using the max() function and you can easily change the number of values returned:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}

x = sorted(stats, key=(lambda key:stats[key]), reverse=True)
['b', 'a', 'c']

If you want the single highest ranking key, just use the index:

x[0]
['b']

If you want the top two highest ranking keys, just use list slicing:

x[:2]
['b', 'a']

If you need to know only a key with the max value you can do it without iterkeys or iteritems because iteration through dictionary in Python is iteration through it's keys.

max_key = max(stats, key=lambda k: stats[k])

EDIT:

From comments, @user1274878 :

I am new to python. Can you please explain your answer in steps?

Yep...

max

max(iterable[, key])

max(arg1, arg2, *args[, key])

Return the largest item in an iterable or the largest of two or more arguments.

The optional key argument describes how to compare elements to get maximum among them:

lambda <item>: return <a result of operation with item> 

Returned values will be compared.

Dict

Python dict is a hash table. A key of dict is a hash of an object declared as a key. Due to performance reasons iteration though a dict implemented as iteration through it's keys.

Therefore we can use it to rid operation of obtaining a keys list.

Closure

A function defined inside another function is called a nested function. Nested functions can access variables of the enclosing scope.

The stats variable available through __closure__ attribute of the lambda function as a pointer to the value of the variable defined in the parent scope.


Example:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}

if you wanna find the max value with its key, maybe follwing could be simple, without any relevant functions.

max(stats, key=stats.get)

the output is the key which has the max value.


How about:

 max(zip(stats.keys(), stats.values()), key=lambda t : t[1])[0]

Counter = 0
for word in stats.keys():
    if stats[word]> counter:
        Counter = stats [word]
print Counter

Given that more than one entry my have the max value. I would make a list of the keys that have the max value as their value.

>>> stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100, 'd':3000}
>>> [key for m in [max(stats.values())] for key,val in stats.iteritems() if val == m]
['b', 'd']

This will give you 'b' and any other max key as well.

Note: For python 3 use stats.items() instead of stats.iteritems()


d = {'A': 4,'B':10}

min_v = min(zip(d.values(), d.keys()))
# min_v is (4,'A')

max_v = max(zip(d.values(), d.keys()))
# max_v is (10,'B')

I was not satisfied with any of these answers. max always picks the first key with the max value. The dictionary could have multiple keys with that value.

def keys_with_top_values(my_dict):
    return [key  for (key, value) in my_dict.items() if value == max(my_dict.values())]

Posting this answer in case it helps someone out. See the below SO post

Which maximum does Python pick in the case of a tie?


I tested the accepted answer AND @thewolf's fastest solution against a very basic loop and the loop was faster than both:

import time
import operator


d = {"a"+str(i): i for i in range(1000000)}

def t1(dct):
    mx = float("-inf")
    key = None
    for k,v in dct.items():
        if v > mx:
            mx = v
            key = k
    return key

def t2(dct):
    v=list(dct.values())
    k=list(dct.keys())
    return k[v.index(max(v))]

def t3(dct):
    return max(dct.items(),key=operator.itemgetter(1))[0]

start = time.time()
for i in range(25):
    m = t1(d)
end = time.time()
print ("Iterating: "+str(end-start))

start = time.time()
for i in range(25):
    m = t2(d)
end = time.time()
print ("List creating: "+str(end-start))

start = time.time()
for i in range(25):
    m = t3(d)
end = time.time()
print ("Accepted answer: "+str(end-start))

results:

Iterating: 3.8201940059661865
List creating: 6.928712844848633
Accepted answer: 5.464320182800293

A heap queue is a generalised solution which allows you to extract the top n keys ordered by value:

from heapq import nlargest

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}

res1 = nlargest(1, stats, key=stats.__getitem__)  # ['b']
res2 = nlargest(2, stats, key=stats.__getitem__)  # ['b', 'a']

res1_val = next(iter(res1))                       # 'b'

Note dict.__getitem__ is the method called by the syntactic sugar dict[]. As opposed to dict.get, it will return KeyError if a key is not found, which here cannot occur.


Here is another one:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}
max(stats.iterkeys(), key=lambda k: stats[k])

The function key simply returns the value that should be used for ranking and max() returns the demanded element right away.


Given that more than one entry my have the max value. I would make a list of the keys that have the max value as their value.

>>> stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100, 'd':3000}
>>> [key for m in [max(stats.values())] for key,val in stats.iteritems() if val == m]
['b', 'd']

This will give you 'b' and any other max key as well.

Note: For python 3 use stats.items() instead of stats.iteritems()


I got here looking for how to return mydict.keys() based on the value of mydict.values(). Instead of just the one key returned, I was looking to return the top x number of values.

This solution is simpler than using the max() function and you can easily change the number of values returned:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}

x = sorted(stats, key=(lambda key:stats[key]), reverse=True)
['b', 'a', 'c']

If you want the single highest ranking key, just use the index:

x[0]
['b']

If you want the top two highest ranking keys, just use list slicing:

x[:2]
['b', 'a']

Here is another one:

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}
max(stats.iterkeys(), key=lambda k: stats[k])

The function key simply returns the value that should be used for ranking and max() returns the demanded element right away.


You can use:

max(d, key = d.get) 
# which is equivalent to 
max(d, key = lambda k : d.get(k))

To return the key, value pair use:

max(d.items(), key = lambda k : k[1])

With collections.Counter you could do

>>> import collections
>>> stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}
>>> stats = collections.Counter(stats)
>>> stats.most_common(1)
[('b', 3000)]

If appropriate, you could simply start with an empty collections.Counter and add to it

>>> stats = collections.Counter()
>>> stats['a'] += 1
:
etc. 

A heap queue is a generalised solution which allows you to extract the top n keys ordered by value:

from heapq import nlargest

stats = {'a':1000, 'b':3000, 'c': 100}

res1 = nlargest(1, stats, key=stats.__getitem__)  # ['b']
res2 = nlargest(2, stats, key=stats.__getitem__)  # ['b', 'a']

res1_val = next(iter(res1))                       # 'b'

Note dict.__getitem__ is the method called by the syntactic sugar dict[]. As opposed to dict.get, it will return KeyError if a key is not found, which here cannot occur.


max(stats, key=stats.get)

I was not satisfied with any of these answers. max always picks the first key with the max value. The dictionary could have multiple keys with that value.

def keys_with_top_values(my_dict):
    return [key  for (key, value) in my_dict.items() if value == max(my_dict.values())]

Posting this answer in case it helps someone out. See the below SO post

Which maximum does Python pick in the case of a tie?


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