In [1]: a = 5.026 In [2]: b = 5.000 In [3]: round(a,2) Out[3]: 5.03 In [4]: round(b,2) Out[4]: 5.0 In [5]: \'%.2f\' % a Out[5]: \'5.03\' In [6]: \'%.2f\' % b Out[6]: \'5.00\' In [7]: float(\'%.2f\' % a) Out[7]: 5.03 In [8]: float(\'%.2f\' % b) Out[8]: 5.0