| Intensity of Importance in Pair-Wise Comparisons | Definition |
| 1 | Equal importance |
| 3 | Moderate importance |
| 5 | Strong importance |
| 7 | Very strong importance |
| 9 | Extreme importance |
| 2, 4, 6, 8 | For comparing between the above |
| Reciprocals of above | In comparison of elements i and j if i is 3 compared to j, then j is 1/3 compared to i. |
| Rationale | Force consistency; measure values available |