Seven salaries are 32, 35, 38, 40, 42, 45 and 220 thousand. The mean is about 64; the median is 40. Why does the median describe this workforce better, when the mean uses all seven numbers and the median effectively uses one?

B. Because using every value means being moved by every value.

Using every value means being moved by every value: the 220 pulls the mean 24 thousand above where six of the seven people are, so the 'average salary' describes nobody in the room. Do not overcorrect, for symmetric data the mean is more efficient. Check the shape first, and distrust any report of an average that does not say which one it means.