Add a New Column to a DataFrame in R

May 13, 2023

Here are two ways to add a new column to a DataFrame in R:

(1) Using the $ symbol:

df$new_column_name <- c("value_1", "value_2", "value_3", ...)

(2) Using cbind:

df <- cbind(df, new_column_name = c("value_1", "value_2", "value_3", ...))

Examples of Adding a New Column to a DataFrame in R

Example 1: Add a new column using the $ symbol

To start, create a DataFrame with two columns – “Colors” and “Shapes” – as captured below:

df <- data.frame(Colors = c("red", "green", "blue", "yellow", "orange"),
                 Shapes = c("square", "circle", "triangle", "rectangle", "cone")
                )
print(df)

Here is the DataFrame with the 2 columns:

  Colors     Shapes
1    red     square
2  green     circle
3   blue   triangle
4 yellow  rectangle
5 orange       cone

Now add a third column, called the “Sizes” column, to the DataFrame:

df <- data.frame(Colors = c("red", "green", "blue", "yellow", "orange"),
                 Shapes = c("square", "circle", "triangle", "rectangle", "cone")
                )

df$Sizes <- c("small", "medium", "large", "small", "medium")
print(df)

The “Sizes” column will be added at the end of the DataFrame:

  Colors     Shapes     Sizes
1    red     square     small
2  green     circle    medium
3   blue   triangle     large
4 yellow  rectangle     small
5 orange       cone    medium

Example 2: Add a new column using cbind

To add the same “Sizes” column using cbind:

df <- data.frame(Colors = c("red", "green", "blue", "yellow", "orange"),
                 Shapes = c("square", "circle", "triangle", "rectangle", "cone")
                )

df <- cbind(df, Sizes = c("small", "medium", "large", "small", "medium"))
print(df)

As before, the “Sizes” column will be added at the end of the DataFrame:

  Colors     Shapes     Sizes
1    red     square     small
2  green     circle    medium
3   blue   triangle     large
4 yellow  rectangle     small
5 orange       cone    medium