SQL MAX Function

The SQL MAX Function is one of the Aggregate Function, which is used to find the Maximum value from the total records (or rows) selected by the SELECT Statement.

TIP: MAX Function will ignore Null values.

SQL Max Function Syntax

The basic syntax of the Max in SQL Server is as shown below:

SELECT MAX ([Column_Name])
FROM [Source]

In this article, we will show you, How to write Max in SQL Server with an example. For this, We are going to use the below-shown data

MAX in SQL Example

The Max in SQL Server simply returns the Maximum value from the total records present in the specified column. For example, The following query will find the Maximum yearly income present in the [Yearly Income] column from Customers table.

-- SQL Server MAX Function example
USE [SQL Tutorial]
GO
SELECT MAX([YearlyIncome]) AS [Maximum Income]
FROM [Customer]

OUTPUT

SQL MAX function on Multiple columns

We can also use MAX function in multiple columns. In this example, we are finding the Maximum Sales value and the maximum Yearly Income.

-- SQL Server MAX Example
SELECT MAX([YearlyIncome]) AS [Maximum Income]
	,MAX(Sales) AS [Maximum Sale]
FROM [Customer]

OUTPUT

SQL MAX Function with Group By Clause

In most cases, we usually check the maximum product price (Highest pricing product) belongs to a particular category or colour etc. In these situations, we use GROUP BY Clause to group the products by colour or category and then use the Max Function to find the Highest pricing product present in each group. Let us see the Example

-- SQL Server MAX Example
SELECT Education
	,MAX([YearlyIncome]) AS [Maximum Income]
	,MAX(Sales) AS [Maximum Sale]
FROM [Customer]
GROUP BY Education

Above SQL Query group the customers by their Education qualification and finds the maximum income and sale of the customers present in each education group

OUTPUT

SQL MAX in Order By Clause

In SQL Server, you can use the Max function in the Order By Clause. Below query will find the Maximum Yearly income, and Sale value grouped by the Education. Next, Order By clause will sort those query result based on the Maximum of yearly income in descending order.

-- SQL Server MAX Example
SELECT Education
	,MAX([YearlyIncome]) AS [Maximum Income]
	,MAX(Sales) AS [Maximum Sale]
FROM [Customer]
GROUP BY Education
ORDER BY MAX([YearlyIncome]) DESC

OUTPUT

SQL MAX in Where Clause

You can also use Where Clause along with the Max function. In this example, we are using where clause to display the sales greater than 1000

-- SQL Server MAX Function example
SELECT Education
	,MAX([YearlyIncome]) AS [Maximum Income]
	,MAX(Sales) AS [Maximum Sale]
FROM [Customer]
WHERE Sales > 1000
GROUP BY Education
ORDER BY MAX([YearlyIncome]) DESC

OUTPUT

SQL Max Having Clause

When we are grouping the data, In some cases we usually check for the conditions against the aggregated data. In that situation, we use HAVING Clause along with Group By Statement.

For example, the following query will group the Customers by their Education & Occupation and then finds the Maximum yearly Income, Sales present in each group.

-- SQL Server MAX Example
SELECT Education
	,Occupation
	,MAX([YearlyIncome]) AS [Maximum Income]
	,MAX(Sales) AS [Maximum Sale]
FROM [Customer]
GROUP BY Education, Occupation 
HAVING MAX([YearlyIncome]) > 60000 

Below lines of code will check whether the aggregated amount (Maximum Yearly income of each individual Group) is greater than 60000 or not. If this is True then corresponding records will be displayed.

HAVING MAX ([YearlyIncome]) > 60000

OUTPUT

SQL Max Subquery

The Max aggregate function allows you to use it inside a Subqueries in Where Clause.

For example, the following query will return all the Customers present in the customer’s table whose [Yearly Income] is exactly equal to the Maximum yearly income.

-- SQL Server MAX Function example
SELECT [EmpID]
      ,[FirstName]
      ,[LastName]
      ,[Education]
      ,[Occupation]
      ,[YearlyIncome]
      ,[Sales]
  FROM [Customer]
  WHERE [YearlyIncome] = (SELECT MAX([YearlyIncome])
			FROM Customer)

From the first example, you can observe that Maximum Income is 125000. So above query will display all the customers from the Customers table whose yearly income is equal to 125000

OUTPUT