A lighting selection system and method obtain characteristic data for plural light emitting devices, determine a difference between a value of the characteristic data and a target value for each of the light emitting devices, and associate the light emitting devices with different groups based on the differences between the characteristic data and the target value. The differences of the light emitting devices in a common group are closer together than the differences of the light emitting devices in other groups. In one embodiment, the light emitting devices are grouped based on the luminous fluxes of the light generated by the light emitting devices, and then the light emitting devices are paired based on differences between colors of the light and a target color. The system and method also may select at least one of the groups of the light emitting devices for inclusion in a light device.