How to Check the Type of a Variable in Python?

Recently, a Python developer pinged me on LinkedIn to ask for a solution to an error she was getting while trying to check the type of a Python variable. I suggested different methods for this. In this tutorial, I will show you various methods to check the type of a variable in Python with examples and code.

To check the type of a variable in Python, you can use the built-in type() function. This function returns the type of the object passed to it. For example, if you have a variable city = "New York", calling type(city) will return <class 'str'>, indicating that city is a string. This method is straightforward and effective for quickly determining the type of any variable.

Table of Contents

Check the Type of a Variable in Python

Python provides different methods to check the type of a variable. Let me show you one by one with example and the complete code.

The type() Function

The simplest and most common method to check the type of a variable in Python is by using the built-in type() function. This function returns the type of the object passed to it.

Let me show you two examples to help you understand it better.

Example 1: Checking the Type of a String

city = "New York"
print(type(city))  # Output: <class 'str'>

In this example, city is a string variable containing the name of a city in the USA. The type() function confirms that city is of type str.

You can see the exact output in the screenshot below:

Example 2: Checking the Type of an Integer

Here is another example to check the type of an integer variable.

population = 8419000
print(type(population))  # Output: <class 'int'>

Here, population is an integer representing the population of New York City. The type() function identifies it as an int.

I executed the above code, and you can see in the screenshot below the exact output:

Check out How to Check if a Variable is None in Python?

The isinstance() Function

Another way to check the type of a variable in Python is by using the isinstance() function. This function checks if an object is an instance of a specified class or a tuple of classes.

Let’s look at a few examples to understand it better.

Example 3: Using isinstance() with a List

states = ["California", "Texas", "Florida"]
print(isinstance(states, list))  # Output: True

In this example, states is a list of state names. The isinstance() function confirms that states is indeed a list.

You can see the output in the screenshot below after I executed the above Python code.

How to Check the Type of a Variable in Python

Example 4: Using isinstance() with Multiple Types

area = 423967  # in square kilometers
print(isinstance(area, (int, float)))  # Output: True

Here, area is an integer representing the area of California. The isinstance() function checks if area is either an int or a float, returning True.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, I have explained different methods to check the type of a variable in Python. The type() function is the best and recommended way to determine the type, while the isinstance() function offers more flexibility, especially when dealing with multiple types. I hope this tutorial helps you.