Planets by Average Temperature

About This Dataset

This chart compares the average temperature of each planet in the Solar System in degrees Celsius. Venus is the hottest at 464°C despite not being closest to the Sun, while distant Neptune averages -200°C. Earth's 15°C average makes it the only planet in the comfortable liquid-water range.

Analysis

The most important anomaly in this data sits at the top: Venus (464°C) is far hotter than Mercury (167°C) despite being nearly twice as far from the Sun - the result of a runaway greenhouse effect under its thick carbon dioxide atmosphere, a cautionary tale for climate science. Mercury's modest average also hides brutal extremes, swinging from 430°C by day to -180°C at night because it has no atmosphere to hold heat. From Earth outward, temperature falls off steadily with distance, dropping roughly 30-60 degrees per planet out to Neptune's -200°C. Earth's 15°C average is no accident of position alone: our modest greenhouse effect lifts it about 33 degrees above what our distance from the Sun would otherwise deliver, landing us precisely in the liquid-water zone.

Source: NASA Planetary Fact Sheet

Key Findings

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Venus leads in Average Temperature (°C) with 464.

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Average Average Temperature (°C): 215 · median: 167.