juniorFeature Engineering
What is label encoding and when should it be used?
Updated May 16, 2026
Short answer
Label encoding converts categories into numeric labels.
Deep explanation
Each category is assigned a unique integer. It is useful for ordinal data but can mislead models if used on nominal categories.
Real-world example
Used in ranking systems like education levels.
Common mistakes
- Applying label encoding to unordered categories like country names.
Follow-up questions
- Why is label encoding risky?
- What is ordinal encoding?