Google Search Console - Why is my average mobile position better than my average desktop position?

[Pauly_Gigs]

I'm wondering why my average mobile position is much better than my average desktop position. I'm wondering if Google is comparing the same queries for both mobile vs desktop or if they're only showing me the top ranked for each type of search.

Is it example 1 or 2?

Example 1: Desktop may have 5,000 ranking queries that average to 21.6
                  Mobile may have 1,500 ranking queries that average to 8.5

OR

Example 2: example.com has 5,000 total ranking keywords, those queries' average ranking in a desktop search 21.6 and mobile search 8.5.

I'm curious to know exactly what I'm seeing in Google's Search Console.

[TheeDigital]

Sounds like you rank for a lot more terms on desktop than mobile, and probably not as well for a lot of those terms. In addition, it could be that a lot of the mobile searchers are in your area, which tends to make you rank higher because of the localization.

[LesleyPaone]

One factor could be your competition is not considered mobile friendly, so they are excluded and that would bring your rank up.