How to change the order of DataFrame columns?

Question

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?

Answer 1

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