How to print a number with commas as thousands separators in JavaScript

I am trying to print an integer in JavaScript with commas as thousands separators. For example, I want to show the number 1234567 as "1,234,567". How would I go about doing this?

Here is how I am doing it:

function numberWithCommas(x) {
    x = x.toString();
    var pattern = /(-?\d+)(\d{3})/;
    while (pattern.test(x))
        x = x.replace(pattern, "$1,$2");
    return x;
}

Is there a simpler or more elegant way to do it? It would be nice if it works with floats also, but that is not necessary. It does not need to be locale-specific to decide between periods and commas.

I used the idea from Kerry's answer, but simplified it since I was just looking for something simple for my specific purpose. Here is what I have:

function numberWithCommas(x) {
    return x.toString().replace(/\B(?=(\d{3})+(?!\d))/g, ",");
}

function numberWithCommas(x) {
    return x.toString().replace(/\B(?<!\.\d*)(?=(\d{3})+(?!\d))/g, ",");
}

function test(x, expect) {
    const result = numberWithCommas(x);
    const pass = result === expect;
    console.log(`${pass ? "✓" : "ERROR ====>"} ${x} => ${result}`);
    return pass;
}

let failures = 0;
failures += !test(0,        "0");
failures += !test(100,      "100");
failures += !test(1000,     "1,000");
failures += !test(10000,    "10,000");
failures += !test(100000,   "100,000");
failures += !test(1000000,  "1,000,000");
failures += !test(10000000, "10,000,000");
if (failures) {
    console.log(`${failures} test(s) failed`);
} else {
    console.log("All tests passed");
}

.as-console-wrapper {
    max-height: 100% !important;
}

The regex uses 2 lookahead assertions:

a positive one to look for any point in the string that has a multiple of 3 digits in a row after it,
a negative assertion to make sure that point only has exactly a multiple of 3 digits. The replacement expression puts a comma there.

For example, if you pass it 123456789.01, the positive assertion will match every spot to the left of the 7 (since 789 is a multiple of 3 digits, 678 is a multiple of 3 digits, 567, etc.). The negative assertion checks that the multiple of 3 digits does not have any digits after it. 789 has a period after it so it is exactly a multiple of 3 digits, so a comma goes there. 678 is a multiple of 3 digits but it has a 9 after it, so those 3 digits are part of a group of 4, and a comma does not go there. Similarly for 567. 456789 is 6 digits, which is a multiple of 3, so a comma goes before that. 345678 is a multiple of 3, but it has a 9 after it, so no comma goes there. And so on. The \B keeps the regex from putting a comma at the beginning of the string.

@neu-rah mentioned that this function adds commas in undesirable places if there are more than 3 digits after the decimal point. If this is a problem, you can use this function:

function numberWithCommas(x) {
    var parts = x.toString().split(".");
    parts[0] = parts[0].replace(/\B(?=(\d{3})+(?!\d))/g, ",");
    return parts.join(".");
}

function numberWithCommas(x) {
    var parts = x.toString().split(".");
    parts[0] = parts[0].replace(/\B(?=(\d{3})+(?!\d))/g, ",");
    return parts.join(".");
}

function test(x, expect) {
    const result = numberWithCommas(x);
    const pass = result === expect;
    console.log(`${pass ? "✓" : "ERROR ====>"} ${x} => ${result}`);
    return pass;
}

let failures = 0;
failures += !test(0              , "0");
failures += !test(0.123456       , "0.123456");
failures += !test(100            , "100");
failures += !test(100.123456     , "100.123456");
failures += !test(1000           , "1,000");
failures += !test(1000.123456    , "1,000.123456");
failures += !test(10000          , "10,000");
failures += !test(10000.123456   , "10,000.123456");
failures += !test(100000         , "100,000");
failures += !test(100000.123456  , "100,000.123456");
failures += !test(1000000        , "1,000,000");
failures += !test(1000000.123456 , "1,000,000.123456");
failures += !test(10000000       , "10,000,000");
failures += !test(10000000.123456, "10,000,000.123456");
if (failures) {
    console.log(`${failures} test(s) failed`);
} else {
    console.log("All tests passed");
}

.as-console-wrapper {
    max-height: 100% !important;
}

@t.j.crowder pointed out that now that JavaScript has lookbehind (support info), it can be solved in the regular expression itself:

function numberWithCommas(x) {
    return x.toString().replace(/\B(?<!\.\d*)(?=(\d{3})+(?!\d))/g, ",");
}

function numberWithCommas(x) {
    return x.toString().replace(/\B(?<!\.\d*)(?=(\d{3})+(?!\d))/g, ",");
}

function test(x, expect) {
    const result = numberWithCommas(x);
    const pass = result === expect;
    console.log(`${pass ? "✓" : "ERROR ====>"} ${x} => ${result}`);
    return pass;
}

let failures = 0;
failures += !test(0,               "0");
failures += !test(0.123456,        "0.123456");
failures += !test(100,             "100");
failures += !test(100.123456,      "100.123456");
failures += !test(1000,            "1,000");
failures += !test(1000.123456,     "1,000.123456");
failures += !test(10000,           "10,000");
failures += !test(10000.123456,    "10,000.123456");
failures += !test(100000,          "100,000");
failures += !test(100000.123456,   "100,000.123456");
failures += !test(1000000,         "1,000,000");
failures += !test(1000000.123456,  "1,000,000.123456");
failures += !test(10000000,        "10,000,000");
failures += !test(10000000.123456, "10,000,000.123456");
if (failures) {
    console.log(`${failures} test(s) failed`);
} else {
    console.log("All tests passed");
}

.as-console-wrapper {
    max-height: 100% !important;
}

(?<!\.\d*) is a negative lookbehind that says the match can't be preceded by a . followed by zero or more digits. The negative lookbehind is faster than the split and join solution (comparison), at least in V8.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Number.prototype.toLocaleString. It's implemented in JavaScript 1.5 (which was introduced in 1999) so it's basically supported across all major browsers.

var n = 34523453.345;
console.log(n.toLocaleString());    // "34,523,453.345"

It also works in Node.js as of v0.12 via inclusion of Intl

If you want something different, Numeral.js might be interesting.

Below are two different browser APIs that can transform Numbers into structured Strings. Keep in mind that not all users' machines have a locale that uses commas in numbers. To enforce commas to the output, any "western" locale may be used, such as en-US

let number = 1234567890; // Example number to be converted

⚠️ Mind that javascript has a maximum integer value of 9007199254740991

toLocaleString

// default behaviour on a machine with a local that uses commas for numbers
let number = 1234567890;
number.toLocaleString(); // "1,234,567,890"

// With custom settings, forcing a "US" locale to guarantee commas in output
let number2 = 1234.56789; // floating point example
number2.toLocaleString('en-US', {maximumFractionDigits:2}) // "1,234.57"

NumberFormat

let number = 1234567890;
let nf = new Intl.NumberFormat('en-US');
nf.format(number); // "1,234,567,890"

From what I checked (Firefox at least) they are both more or less same regarding performance.

⚡ Live demo: https://codepen.io/vsync/pen/MWjdbgL?editors=1000

How to print a number with commas as thousands separators in JavaScript

toLocaleString

NumberFormat

Related

Recent Posts