SQL BETWEEN Operator

The BETWEEN operator is used in a WHERE clause to select a range of data between two values.

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The BETWEEN Operator

The BETWEEN operator selects a range of data between two values. The values can be numbers, text, or dates.

SQL BETWEEN Syntax

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name BETWEEN value1 AND value2

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BETWEEN Operator Example

The "Persons" table:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Hansen	Ola	Timoteivn 10	Sandnes
2	Svendson	Tove	Borgvn 23	Sandnes
3	Pettersen	Kari	Storgt 20	Stavanger

Now we want to select the persons with a last name alphabetically between "Hansen" and "Pettersen" from the table above.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName BETWEEN 'Hansen' AND 'Pettersen'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Hansen	Ola	Timoteivn 10	Sandnes

Note: The BETWEEN operator is treated differently in different databases!

In some databases, persons with the LastName of "Hansen" or "Pettersen" will not be listed, because the BETWEEN operator only selects fields that are between and excluding the test values.

In other databases, persons with the LastName of "Hansen" or "Pettersen" will be listed, because the BETWEEN operator selects fields that are between and including the test values.

And in other databases, persons with the LastName of "Hansen" will be listed, but "Pettersen" will not be listed (like the example above), because the BETWEEN operator selects fields between the test values, including the first test value and excluding the last test value.

Therefore: Check how your database treats the BETWEEN operator.

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Example 2

To display the persons outside the range in the previous example, use NOT BETWEEN:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName NOT BETWEEN 'Hansen' AND 'Pettersen'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
2	Svendson	Tove	Borgvn 23	Sandnes
3	Pettersen	Kari	Storgt 20	Stavanger