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How to change the order of DataFrame columns?

I have the following DataFrame (df):

import numpy as np
import pandas as pd

df = pd.DataFrame(np.random.rand(10, 5))

I add more column(s) by assignment:

df['mean'] = df.mean(1)

How can I move the column mean to the front, i.e. set it as first column leaving the order of the other columns untouched?

For a generalized NumPy-based solution see How to move a column in a pandas dataframe, assumes one column level only, i.e. no MultiIndex.
After searching enough, I got this best link for columns re-arranging multiple logics in pretty simple terms [columns re-arrange logic for pandas] [datasciencemadesimple.com/…
In the end, the point is: df = df[ list with newly arranged column names ] ;D
For 2022, @WesMckinney's answer is more up to date than the top answer

A
Aman

One easy way would be to reassign the dataframe with a list of the columns, rearranged as needed.

This is what you have now:

In [6]: df
Out[6]:
          0         1         2         3         4      mean
0  0.445598  0.173835  0.343415  0.682252  0.582616  0.445543
1  0.881592  0.696942  0.702232  0.696724  0.373551  0.670208
2  0.662527  0.955193  0.131016  0.609548  0.804694  0.632596
3  0.260919  0.783467  0.593433  0.033426  0.512019  0.436653
4  0.131842  0.799367  0.182828  0.683330  0.019485  0.363371
5  0.498784  0.873495  0.383811  0.699289  0.480447  0.587165
6  0.388771  0.395757  0.745237  0.628406  0.784473  0.588529
7  0.147986  0.459451  0.310961  0.706435  0.100914  0.345149
8  0.394947  0.863494  0.585030  0.565944  0.356561  0.553195
9  0.689260  0.865243  0.136481  0.386582  0.730399  0.561593

In [7]: cols = df.columns.tolist()

In [8]: cols
Out[8]: [0L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L, 'mean']

Rearrange cols in any way you want. This is how I moved the last element to the first position:

In [12]: cols = cols[-1:] + cols[:-1]

In [13]: cols
Out[13]: ['mean', 0L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L]

Then reorder the dataframe like this:

In [16]: df = df[cols]  #    OR    df = df.ix[:, cols]

In [17]: df
Out[17]:
       mean         0         1         2         3         4
0  0.445543  0.445598  0.173835  0.343415  0.682252  0.582616
1  0.670208  0.881592  0.696942  0.702232  0.696724  0.373551
2  0.632596  0.662527  0.955193  0.131016  0.609548  0.804694
3  0.436653  0.260919  0.783467  0.593433  0.033426  0.512019
4  0.363371  0.131842  0.799367  0.182828  0.683330  0.019485
5  0.587165  0.498784  0.873495  0.383811  0.699289  0.480447
6  0.588529  0.388771  0.395757  0.745237  0.628406  0.784473
7  0.345149  0.147986  0.459451  0.310961  0.706435  0.100914
8  0.553195  0.394947  0.863494  0.585030  0.565944  0.356561
9  0.561593  0.689260  0.865243  0.136481  0.386582  0.730399

incase you get "cannot concatenate 'str' and 'list' objects" make sure you [] the str value in cols: cols = [cols[7]] + cols[:7] + cols[8:]
@FooBar That's not a set union it's a concatenation of two ordered lists.
@Aman I'm just pointing out that your code is deprecated. Your handling of your post is at your discretion.
@FooBar, the type of cols is list; it even allows duplicates (which will be discarded when used on the dataframe). You are thinking of Index objects.
This implies copying ALL the data, which is highly inefficient. I wished pandas had a way to do that without creating a copy.
f
freddygv

You could also do something like this:

df = df[['mean', '0', '1', '2', '3']]

You can get the list of columns with:

cols = list(df.columns.values)

The output will produce:

['0', '1', '2', '3', 'mean']

...which is then easy to rearrange manually before dropping it into the first function


You could also get the list of columns with list(df.columns)
or df.columns.tolist()
For newbies like me, re-arrange the list you get from cols. Then df=df[cols] i.e. the re-arranged list gets dropped into the first expression without only one set of brackets.
I don't think this is a good answer as it does not provide code how to change column order of any dataframe. Say i import a csv file as pandas pd as pd.read_csv() . How can your answer be used to change the column order?
@Robvh, the second line of code explains how to get the existing column names. From there, you can copy the output into the first line of code, and re-arrange as desired. The only other piece of information to know is that without a header, the default column names are integers, not strings.
f
fixxxer

Just assign the column names in the order you want them:

In [39]: df
Out[39]: 
          0         1         2         3         4  mean
0  0.172742  0.915661  0.043387  0.712833  0.190717     1
1  0.128186  0.424771  0.590779  0.771080  0.617472     1
2  0.125709  0.085894  0.989798  0.829491  0.155563     1
3  0.742578  0.104061  0.299708  0.616751  0.951802     1
4  0.721118  0.528156  0.421360  0.105886  0.322311     1
5  0.900878  0.082047  0.224656  0.195162  0.736652     1
6  0.897832  0.558108  0.318016  0.586563  0.507564     1
7  0.027178  0.375183  0.930248  0.921786  0.337060     1
8  0.763028  0.182905  0.931756  0.110675  0.423398     1
9  0.848996  0.310562  0.140873  0.304561  0.417808     1

In [40]: df = df[['mean', 4,3,2,1]]

Now, 'mean' column comes out in the front:

In [41]: df
Out[41]: 
   mean         4         3         2         1
0     1  0.190717  0.712833  0.043387  0.915661
1     1  0.617472  0.771080  0.590779  0.424771
2     1  0.155563  0.829491  0.989798  0.085894
3     1  0.951802  0.616751  0.299708  0.104061
4     1  0.322311  0.105886  0.421360  0.528156
5     1  0.736652  0.195162  0.224656  0.082047
6     1  0.507564  0.586563  0.318016  0.558108
7     1  0.337060  0.921786  0.930248  0.375183
8     1  0.423398  0.110675  0.931756  0.182905
9     1  0.417808  0.304561  0.140873  0.310562

Does it make a copy?
@NicholasMorley - This isn't the best answer if you have, say, 1000 columns in your df.
it doesn't seem like you're assigning to <df>.columns like you claim initially
This is the best answer for a small number of columns.
This is just a copy of @freddygv 's earlier answer. That one should be the accepted answer, not this.
J
Jongwook Choi

For pandas >= 1.3 (Edited in 2022):

df.insert(0, 'mean', df.pop('mean'))

How about (for Pandas < 1.3, the original answer)

df.insert(0, 'mean', df['mean'])

https://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/user_guide/dsintro.html#column-selection-addition-deletion


Could this be a future feature add to pandas? something like df.move(0,df.mean)?
Beautiful. And it happens in place, too.
This is a scalable solution since other solutions are manually typing column names.
This works for the OP's question, when creating a new column, but it doesn't for moving a column; attempt to move results in *** ValueError: cannot insert mean, already exists
This is a clean solution. The modern API method is: df.insert(0, 'mean', df['mean'])
M
Mr_and_Mrs_D

In your case,

df = df.reindex(columns=['mean',0,1,2,3,4])

will do exactly what you want.

In my case (general form):

df = df.reindex(columns=sorted(df.columns))
df = df.reindex(columns=(['opened'] + list([a for a in df.columns if a != 'opened']) ))

I tried to set copy=False but it looks like reindex_axis still creates a copy.
@Konstantin can you create another question about this issue? It would be better to have more context
@Konstantin just curious, did you debug to see that copy=False creates a copy? the documentation claimed that when copy=True, reindex returns a new object, suggesting that it'd be the same old object otherwise; if it is the same object, how could be it a copy?
P
Pygirl
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame()
column_names = ['x','y','z','mean']
for col in column_names: 
    df[col] = np.random.randint(0,100, size=10000)

You can try out the following solutions :

Solution 1:

df = df[ ['mean'] + [ col for col in df.columns if col != 'mean' ] ]

Solution 2:

df = df[['mean', 'x', 'y', 'z']]

Solution 3:

col = df.pop("mean")
df = df.insert(0, col.name, col)

Solution 4:

df.set_index(df.columns[-1], inplace=True)
df.reset_index(inplace=True)

Solution 5:

cols = list(df)
cols = [cols[-1]] + cols[:-1]
df = df[cols]

solution 6:

order = [1,2,3,0] # setting column's order
df = df[[df.columns[i] for i in order]]

Time Comparison:

Solution 1:

CPU times: user 1.05 ms, sys: 35 µs, total: 1.08 ms Wall time: 995 µs

Solution 2:

CPU times: user 933 µs, sys: 0 ns, total: 933 µs Wall time: 800 µs

Solution 3:

CPU times: user 0 ns, sys: 1.35 ms, total: 1.35 ms Wall time: 1.08 ms

Solution 4:

CPU times: user 1.23 ms, sys: 45 µs, total: 1.27 ms Wall time: 986 µs

Solution 5:

CPU times: user 1.09 ms, sys: 19 µs, total: 1.11 ms Wall time: 949 µs

Solution 6:

CPU times: user 955 µs, sys: 34 µs, total: 989 µs Wall time: 859 µs


solution 1 is what I needed as I have too many columns(53), thanks
@Pygirl wich value shows real comsumed time? (user, sys, total or wall time)
This is for me the best answer for the problem. So many solutions(including one that I needed) and simple approach. Thanks!
Solution 6 (no list comprehension): df = df.iloc[:, [1, 2, 3, 0]]
@sergzemsk: stackoverflow.com/a/55702033/6660373. I compare by wall time.
K
Kevin Markham

You need to create a new list of your columns in the desired order, then use df = df[cols] to rearrange the columns in this new order.

cols = ['mean']  + [col for col in df if col != 'mean']
df = df[cols]

You can also use a more general approach. In this example, the last column (indicated by -1) is inserted as the first column.

cols = [df.columns[-1]] + [col for col in df if col != df.columns[-1]]
df = df[cols]

You can also use this approach for reordering columns in a desired order if they are present in the DataFrame.

inserted_cols = ['a', 'b', 'c']
cols = ([col for col in inserted_cols if col in df] 
        + [col for col in df if col not in inserted_cols])
df = df[cols]

A
Asclepius

Suppose you have df with columns A B C.

The most simple way is:

df = df.reindex(['B','C','A'], axis=1)

One great thing about this option is that you can use it in pandas pipe operations!
Note that this will only return a reindexed data frame - not change the df instance which is being used. If you want to use the reindexed df, simply use the returned value: df2 = df.reindex(['B', 'C', 'A'], axis=1). Thanks for this answer!
@cheevahagadog Good Point!
@AndreasForslöw Thanks for highlighting that.
Y
Yuca

If your column names are too-long-to-type then you could specify the new order through a list of integers with the positions:

Data:

          0         1         2         3         4      mean
0  0.397312  0.361846  0.719802  0.575223  0.449205  0.500678
1  0.287256  0.522337  0.992154  0.584221  0.042739  0.485741
2  0.884812  0.464172  0.149296  0.167698  0.793634  0.491923
3  0.656891  0.500179  0.046006  0.862769  0.651065  0.543382
4  0.673702  0.223489  0.438760  0.468954  0.308509  0.422683
5  0.764020  0.093050  0.100932  0.572475  0.416471  0.389390
6  0.259181  0.248186  0.626101  0.556980  0.559413  0.449972
7  0.400591  0.075461  0.096072  0.308755  0.157078  0.207592
8  0.639745  0.368987  0.340573  0.997547  0.011892  0.471749
9  0.050582  0.714160  0.168839  0.899230  0.359690  0.438500

Generic example:

new_order = [3,2,1,4,5,0]
print(df[df.columns[new_order]])  

          3         2         1         4      mean         0
0  0.575223  0.719802  0.361846  0.449205  0.500678  0.397312
1  0.584221  0.992154  0.522337  0.042739  0.485741  0.287256
2  0.167698  0.149296  0.464172  0.793634  0.491923  0.884812
3  0.862769  0.046006  0.500179  0.651065  0.543382  0.656891
4  0.468954  0.438760  0.223489  0.308509  0.422683  0.673702
5  0.572475  0.100932  0.093050  0.416471  0.389390  0.764020
6  0.556980  0.626101  0.248186  0.559413  0.449972  0.259181
7  0.308755  0.096072  0.075461  0.157078  0.207592  0.400591
8  0.997547  0.340573  0.368987  0.011892  0.471749  0.639745
9  0.899230  0.168839  0.714160  0.359690  0.438500  0.050582

Although it might seem like I'm just explicitly typing the column names in a different order, the fact that there's a column 'mean' should make it clear that new_order relates to actual positions and not column names.

For the specific case of OP's question:

new_order = [-1,0,1,2,3,4]
df = df[df.columns[new_order]]
print(df)

       mean         0         1         2         3         4
0  0.500678  0.397312  0.361846  0.719802  0.575223  0.449205
1  0.485741  0.287256  0.522337  0.992154  0.584221  0.042739
2  0.491923  0.884812  0.464172  0.149296  0.167698  0.793634
3  0.543382  0.656891  0.500179  0.046006  0.862769  0.651065
4  0.422683  0.673702  0.223489  0.438760  0.468954  0.308509
5  0.389390  0.764020  0.093050  0.100932  0.572475  0.416471
6  0.449972  0.259181  0.248186  0.626101  0.556980  0.559413
7  0.207592  0.400591  0.075461  0.096072  0.308755  0.157078
8  0.471749  0.639745  0.368987  0.340573  0.997547  0.011892
9  0.438500  0.050582  0.714160  0.168839  0.899230  0.359690

The main problem with this approach is that calling the same code multiple times will create different results each time, so one needs to be careful :)


A
Asclepius

This question has been answered before but reindex_axis is deprecated now so I would suggest to use:

df = df.reindex(sorted(df.columns), axis=1)

For those who want to specify the order they want instead of just sorting them, here's the solution spelled out:

df = df.reindex(['the','order','you','want'], axis=1)

Now, how you want to sort the list of column names is really not a pandas question, that's a Python list manipulation question. There are many ways of doing that, and I think this answer has a very neat way of doing it.


No, that's different. There the user wants to sort all columns by name. Here they want to move one column to the first column while leaving the order of the other columns untouched.
What if you don't want them sorted?
The answer doesn't deal with the problem in the question.
@mins I hope the edit above is clear enough. :)
Your edit now shows a working solution to the problem. Thanks.
A
Asclepius

I think this is a slightly neater solution:

df.insert(0, 'mean', df.pop("mean"))

This solution is somewhat similar to @JoeHeffer 's solution but this is one liner.

Here we remove the column "mean" from the dataframe and attach it to index 0 with the same column name.


this is nice, but what if you want it to go at the end?
Any new column you create is added to the end, so I guess it would be df["mean"] = df.pop("mean")
S
Sam Murphy

You can reorder the dataframe columns using a list of names with:

df = df.filter(list_of_col_names)


c
clocker

I ran into a similar question myself, and just wanted to add what I settled on. I liked the reindex_axis() method for changing column order. This worked:

df = df.reindex_axis(['mean'] + list(df.columns[:-1]), axis=1)

An alternate method based on the comment from @Jorge:

df = df.reindex(columns=['mean'] + list(df.columns[:-1]))

Although reindex_axis seems to be slightly faster in micro benchmarks than reindex, I think I prefer the latter for its directness.


This was a nice solution, but reindex_axis will be deprecated. I used reindex, and it worked just fine.
I may miss something but 1/ you likely forgot to include axis=1 in this second solution to use the columns, not the rows. 2/ In 2020, the reindex solution changes the rows/columns order, but also clears data (NaN everywhere).
N
Napitupulu Jon

Simply do,

df = df[['mean'] + df.columns[:-1].tolist()]

TypeError: Can't convert 'int' object to str implicitly
could be API has changed, you can also do this... order = df.columns.tolist() df['mean'] = df.mean(1) df.columns = ['mean'] + order
A variation of this worked well for me. With an existing list, headers, that was used to create a dict that was then used to create the DataFrame, I called df.reindex(columns=headers). The only problem I ran into was I had already called df.set_index('some header name', inplace=True), so when the reindex was done, it added another column named some header name since the original column was now the index. As for the syntax specified above, ['mean'] + df.columns in the python interpreter gives me Index(u'meanAddress', u'meanCity', u'meanFirst Name'...
@hlongmore: I don't know your prior code is, but the edit should work (using 0.19.2)
The edit does indeed work (I'm on 0.20.2). In my case, I've already got the columns I want, so I think df.reindex() is what I really should use.
s
seeiespi

This function avoids you having to list out every variable in your dataset just to order a few of them.

def order(frame,var):
    if type(var) is str:
        var = [var] #let the command take a string or list
    varlist =[w for w in frame.columns if w not in var]
    frame = frame[var+varlist]
    return frame 

It takes two arguments, the first is the dataset, the second are the columns in the data set that you want to bring to the front.

So in my case I have a data set called Frame with variables A1, A2, B1, B2, Total and Date. If I want to bring Total to the front then all I have to do is:

frame = order(frame,['Total'])

If I want to bring Total and Date to the front then I do:

frame = order(frame,['Total','Date'])

EDIT:

Another useful way to use this is, if you have an unfamiliar table and you're looking with variables with a particular term in them, like VAR1, VAR2,... you may execute something like:

frame = order(frame,[v for v in frame.columns if "VAR" in v])

A
Asclepius

Here's a way to move one existing column that will modify the existing dataframe in place.

my_column = df.pop('column name')
df.insert(3, my_column.name, my_column)  # Is in-place

This is pretty much the only good approach as it's in-place. Most other approaches are not in-place and are therefore not scalable.
o
otteheng

You could do the following (borrowing parts from Aman's answer):

cols = df.columns.tolist()
cols.insert(0, cols.pop(-1))

cols
>>>['mean', 0L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L]

df = df[cols]

c
ccerhan

Just type the column name you want to change, and set the index for the new location.

def change_column_order(df, col_name, index):
    cols = df.columns.tolist()
    cols.remove(col_name)
    cols.insert(index, col_name)
    return df[cols]

For your case, this would be like:

df = change_column_order(df, 'mean', 0)

p
pomber

Moving any column to any position:

import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame({"A": [1,2,3], 
                   "B": [2,4,8], 
                   "C": [5,5,5]})

cols = df.columns.tolist()
column_to_move = "C"
new_position = 1

cols.insert(new_position, cols.pop(cols.index(column_to_move)))
df = df[cols]

A
Asclepius

I wanted to bring two columns in front from a dataframe where I do not know exactly the names of all columns, because they are generated from a pivot statement before. So, if you are in the same situation: To bring columns in front that you know the name of and then let them follow by "all the other columns", I came up with the following general solution:

df = df.reindex_axis(['Col1','Col2'] + list(df.columns.drop(['Col1','Col2'])), axis=1)

FutureWarning: '.reindex_axis' is deprecated and will be removed in a future version. Use '.reindex' instead.
r
rra

Here is a very simple answer to this(only one line).

You can do that after you added the 'n' column into your df as follows.

import numpy as np
import pandas as pd

df = pd.DataFrame(np.random.rand(10, 5))
df['mean'] = df.mean(1)
df
           0           1           2           3           4        mean
0   0.929616    0.316376    0.183919    0.204560    0.567725    0.440439
1   0.595545    0.964515    0.653177    0.748907    0.653570    0.723143
2   0.747715    0.961307    0.008388    0.106444    0.298704    0.424512
3   0.656411    0.809813    0.872176    0.964648    0.723685    0.805347
4   0.642475    0.717454    0.467599    0.325585    0.439645    0.518551
5   0.729689    0.994015    0.676874    0.790823    0.170914    0.672463
6   0.026849    0.800370    0.903723    0.024676    0.491747    0.449473
7   0.526255    0.596366    0.051958    0.895090    0.728266    0.559587
8   0.818350    0.500223    0.810189    0.095969    0.218950    0.488736
9   0.258719    0.468106    0.459373    0.709510    0.178053    0.414752


### here you can add below line and it should work 
# Don't forget the two (()) 'brackets' around columns names.Otherwise, it'll give you an error.

df = df[list(('mean',0, 1, 2,3,4))]
df

        mean           0           1           2           3           4
0   0.440439    0.929616    0.316376    0.183919    0.204560    0.567725
1   0.723143    0.595545    0.964515    0.653177    0.748907    0.653570
2   0.424512    0.747715    0.961307    0.008388    0.106444    0.298704
3   0.805347    0.656411    0.809813    0.872176    0.964648    0.723685
4   0.518551    0.642475    0.717454    0.467599    0.325585    0.439645
5   0.672463    0.729689    0.994015    0.676874    0.790823    0.170914
6   0.449473    0.026849    0.800370    0.903723    0.024676    0.491747
7   0.559587    0.526255    0.596366    0.051958    0.895090    0.728266
8   0.488736    0.818350    0.500223    0.810189    0.095969    0.218950
9   0.414752    0.258719    0.468106    0.459373    0.709510    0.178053


M
Mathia Haure-Touzé

You can use a set which is an unordered collection of unique elements to do keep the "order of the other columns untouched":

other_columns = list(set(df.columns).difference(["mean"])) #[0, 1, 2, 3, 4]

Then, you can use a lambda to move a specific column to the front by:

In [1]: import numpy as np                                                                               

In [2]: import pandas as pd                                                                              

In [3]: df = pd.DataFrame(np.random.rand(10, 5))                                                         

In [4]: df["mean"] = df.mean(1)                                                                          

In [5]: move_col_to_front = lambda df, col: df[[col]+list(set(df.columns).difference([col]))]            

In [6]: move_col_to_front(df, "mean")                                                                    
Out[6]: 
       mean         0         1         2         3         4
0  0.697253  0.600377  0.464852  0.938360  0.945293  0.537384
1  0.609213  0.703387  0.096176  0.971407  0.955666  0.319429
2  0.561261  0.791842  0.302573  0.662365  0.728368  0.321158
3  0.518720  0.710443  0.504060  0.663423  0.208756  0.506916
4  0.616316  0.665932  0.794385  0.163000  0.664265  0.793995
5  0.519757  0.585462  0.653995  0.338893  0.714782  0.305654
6  0.532584  0.434472  0.283501  0.633156  0.317520  0.994271
7  0.640571  0.732680  0.187151  0.937983  0.921097  0.423945
8  0.562447  0.790987  0.200080  0.317812  0.641340  0.862018
9  0.563092  0.811533  0.662709  0.396048  0.596528  0.348642

In [7]: move_col_to_front(df, 2)                                                                         
Out[7]: 
          2         0         1         3         4      mean
0  0.938360  0.600377  0.464852  0.945293  0.537384  0.697253
1  0.971407  0.703387  0.096176  0.955666  0.319429  0.609213
2  0.662365  0.791842  0.302573  0.728368  0.321158  0.561261
3  0.663423  0.710443  0.504060  0.208756  0.506916  0.518720
4  0.163000  0.665932  0.794385  0.664265  0.793995  0.616316
5  0.338893  0.585462  0.653995  0.714782  0.305654  0.519757
6  0.633156  0.434472  0.283501  0.317520  0.994271  0.532584
7  0.937983  0.732680  0.187151  0.921097  0.423945  0.640571
8  0.317812  0.790987  0.200080  0.641340  0.862018  0.562447
9  0.396048  0.811533  0.662709  0.596528  0.348642  0.563092

p
plhn

Just flipping helps often.

df[df.columns[::-1]]

Or just shuffle for a look.

import random
cols = list(df.columns)
random.shuffle(cols)
df[cols]

s
silgon

You can use reindex which can be used for both axis:

df
#           0         1         2         3         4      mean
# 0  0.943825  0.202490  0.071908  0.452985  0.678397  0.469921
# 1  0.745569  0.103029  0.268984  0.663710  0.037813  0.363821
# 2  0.693016  0.621525  0.031589  0.956703  0.118434  0.484254
# 3  0.284922  0.527293  0.791596  0.243768  0.629102  0.495336
# 4  0.354870  0.113014  0.326395  0.656415  0.172445  0.324628
# 5  0.815584  0.532382  0.195437  0.829670  0.019001  0.478415
# 6  0.944587  0.068690  0.811771  0.006846  0.698785  0.506136
# 7  0.595077  0.437571  0.023520  0.772187  0.862554  0.538182
# 8  0.700771  0.413958  0.097996  0.355228  0.656919  0.444974
# 9  0.263138  0.906283  0.121386  0.624336  0.859904  0.555009

df.reindex(['mean', *range(5)], axis=1)

#        mean         0         1         2         3         4
# 0  0.469921  0.943825  0.202490  0.071908  0.452985  0.678397
# 1  0.363821  0.745569  0.103029  0.268984  0.663710  0.037813
# 2  0.484254  0.693016  0.621525  0.031589  0.956703  0.118434
# 3  0.495336  0.284922  0.527293  0.791596  0.243768  0.629102
# 4  0.324628  0.354870  0.113014  0.326395  0.656415  0.172445
# 5  0.478415  0.815584  0.532382  0.195437  0.829670  0.019001
# 6  0.506136  0.944587  0.068690  0.811771  0.006846  0.698785
# 7  0.538182  0.595077  0.437571  0.023520  0.772187  0.862554
# 8  0.444974  0.700771  0.413958  0.097996  0.355228  0.656919
# 9  0.555009  0.263138  0.906283  0.121386  0.624336  0.859904

A
Asclepius

Hackiest method in the book

df.insert(0, "test", df["mean"])
df = df.drop(columns=["mean"]).rename(columns={"test": "mean"})

A
Asclepius

A pretty straightforward solution that worked for me is to use .reindex on df.columns:

df = df[df.columns.reindex(['mean', 0, 1, 2, 3, 4])[0]]

f
freeB

Here is a function to do this for any number of columns.

def mean_first(df):
    ncols = df.shape[1]        # Get the number of columns
    index = list(range(ncols)) # Create an index to reorder the columns
    index.insert(0,ncols)      # This puts the last column at the front
    return(df.assign(mean=df.mean(1)).iloc[:,index]) # new df with last column (mean) first

A
Asclepius

A simple approach is using set(), in particular when you have a long list of columns and do not want to handle them manually:

cols = list(set(df.columns.tolist()) - set(['mean']))
cols.insert(0, 'mean')
df = df[cols]

One caution: the order of columns goes away if you put it into set
Interesting! @user1930402 I have tried the approach above on several occasions and never had any problem. I will double check again.
A
Asclepius

How about using T?

df = df.T.reindex(['mean', 0, 1, 2, 3, 4]).T

C
Community

I believe @Aman's answer is the best if you know the location of the other column.

If you don't know the location of mean, but only have its name, you cannot resort directly to cols = cols[-1:] + cols[:-1]. Following is the next-best thing I could come up with:

meanDf = pd.DataFrame(df.pop('mean'))
# now df doesn't contain "mean" anymore. Order of join will move it to left or right:
meanDf.join(df) # has mean as first column
df.join(meanDf) # has mean as last column