{"id":1725,"date":"2018-09-08T06:13:39","date_gmt":"2018-09-08T13:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sqltutorial.org\/?page_id=1725"},"modified":"2025-01-20T02:43:23","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T09:43:23","slug":"sql-dense_rank","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-window-functions\/sql-dense_rank\/","title":{"rendered":"SQL DENSE_RANK Function"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p><strong>Summary<\/strong>: in this tutorial, you&#8217;ll learn how to use the SQL <code>DENSE_RANK()<\/code> function to rank rows in partitions without gaps in ranking values.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='introduction-to-sql-dense_rank-function'>Introduction to SQL DENSE_RANK() function <a href=\"#introduction-to-sql-dense_rank-function\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"introduction-to-sql-dense_rank-function\" title=\"Anchor for Introduction to SQL DENSE_RANK() function\">#<\/a><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The <code>DENSE_RANK()<\/code> is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-window-functions\/\">window function<\/a> that assigns a rank to each row in partitions with no gaps in the ranking values.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>If two or more rows in the same partition have the same values, they receive the same rank. The next row has the rank incremented by one.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Unlike the <code><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-window-functions\/sql-rank\/\">RANK()<\/a><\/code> function, the <code>DENSE_RANK()<\/code> function always generates consecutive rank values.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Here&#8217;s the syntax of the <code>DENSE_RANK()<\/code> window function:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-1\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\">DENSE_RANK() OVER (\r\n   PARTITION BY expression1 &#91;{,expression2...}]\r\n   ORDER BY expression1 &#91;ASC|DESC], &#91;{,expression2...}]\r\n)<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-1\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>In this syntax:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li>The <code>PARTITION BY<\/code> clause divides the result set into partitions.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>The <code>ORDER BY<\/code> specifies the order of rows in each partition.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>The <code>DENSE_RANK(<\/code>) function is applied to the rows in the specified order of each partition. It resets the rank value when the partition boundary is crossed.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='basic-dense_rank-function-example'>Basic DENSE_RANK function example <a href=\"#basic-dense_rank-function-example\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"basic-dense_rank-function-example\" title=\"Anchor for Basic DENSE_RANK function example\">#<\/a><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>First, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-create-table\/\">create a new table<\/a> <code>dense_rank_demos<\/code> with one column <code>v<\/code>:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-2\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">CREATE<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">TABLE<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">IF<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">NOT<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">EXISTS<\/span> dense_rank_demos (v <span class=\"hljs-built_in\">VARCHAR<\/span>);<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-2\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/playground\/?q=Q1JFQVRFIFRBQkxFIGRlbnNlX3JhbmtfZGVtb3MgKGMgVkFSQ0hBUik7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Second, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-insert\/\">insert some rows<\/a> into the <code>dense_rank_demos<\/code> table:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-3\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">INSERT<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">INTO<\/span>\r\n  dense_rank_demos (v)\r\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">VALUES<\/span>\r\n  (<span class=\"hljs-string\">'A'<\/span>),\r\n  (<span class=\"hljs-string\">'B'<\/span>),\r\n  (<span class=\"hljs-string\">'B'<\/span>),\r\n  (<span class=\"hljs-string\">'C'<\/span>),\r\n  (<span class=\"hljs-string\">'D'<\/span>),\r\n  (<span class=\"hljs-string\">'D'<\/span>),\r\n  (<span class=\"hljs-string\">'E'<\/span>);<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-3\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/playground\/?q=SU5TRVJUIElOVE8gZGVuc2VfcmFua19kZW1vcyAoYykgVkFMVUVTICgnQScpLCAoJ0InKSwgKCdCJyksICgnQycpLCAoJ0QnKSwgKCdEJyksICgnRScpOw%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Third, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-select\/\">retrieve data<\/a> from the <code>dense_rank_demos<\/code> table:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-4\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span> v <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span> dense_rank_demos;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-4\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/playground\/?q=U0VMRUNUIGMgRlJPTSBkZW5zZV9yYW5rX2RlbW9zOw%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Output:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-5\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"> v\r\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\">---<\/span>\r\n A\r\n B\r\n B\r\n C\r\n D\r\n D\r\n E<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-5\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Finally, use the <code>DENSE_RANK()<\/code> and <code><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-window-functions\/sql-rank\/\">RANK()<\/a><\/code> functions to assign ranks to each row of the result set:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-6\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span>\r\n  v,\r\n  <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">DENSE_RANK<\/span>() <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">OVER<\/span> ( <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">ORDER<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">BY<\/span> v) my_dense_rank,\r\n  <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">RANK<\/span>() <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">OVER<\/span> (<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">ORDER<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">BY<\/span> v) my_rank\r\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span>\r\n  dense_rank_demos;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-6\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Output:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-7\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"> v | my_dense_rank | my_rank\r\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\">---+---------------+---------<\/span>\r\n A |             1 |       1\r\n B |             2 |       2\r\n B |             2 |       2\r\n C |             3 |       4\r\n D |             4 |       5\r\n D |             4 |       5\r\n E |             5 |       7<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-7\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='using-sql-dense_rank-over-the-result-set-example'>Using SQL DENSE_RANK() over the result set example <a href=\"#using-sql-dense_rank-over-the-result-set-example\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"using-sql-dense_rank-over-the-result-set-example\" title=\"Anchor for Using SQL DENSE_RANK() over the result set example\">#<\/a><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>We&#8217;ll use the <code>employees<\/code> and <code>departments<\/code> tables from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-sample-database\/\">sample database<\/a> for the demonstration purposes:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"451\" height=\"269\" class=\"wp-image-1190\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/employees_departments_tables.png\" alt=\"Employees &amp; Departments Tables\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/employees_departments_tables.png 451w, https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/employees_departments_tables-300x179.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px\" \/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The following statement uses the <code>DENSE_RANK()<\/code> function to rank employees by their salaries:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-8\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span>\r\n  first_name,\r\n  last_name,\r\n  salary,\r\n  <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">DENSE_RANK<\/span>() <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">OVER<\/span> (\r\n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">ORDER<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">BY<\/span> salary <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">DESC<\/span>\r\n  ) salary_rank\r\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span>\r\n  employees;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-8\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/playground\/?q=U0VMRUNUIGVtcGxveWVlX2lkLCBmaXJzdF9uYW1lLCBsYXN0X25hbWUsIHNhbGFyeSwgREVOU0VfUkFOSygpIE9WRVIgKCBPUkRFUiBCWSBzYWxhcnkgREVTQyApIHNhbGFyeV9yYW5rIEZST00gZW1wbG95ZWVzOw%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Output:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-9\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"> first_name  |  last_name  |  salary  | salary_rank\r\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\">-------------+-------------+----------+-------------<\/span>\r\n Steven      | King        | 24000.00 |           1\r\n Neena       | Kochhar     | 17000.00 |           2\r\n Lex         | De Haan     | 17000.00 |           2\r\n John        | Russell     | 14000.00 |           3\r\n Karen       | Partners    | 13500.00 |           4\r\n Michael     | Hartstein   | 13000.00 |           5\r\n Shelley     | Higgins     | 12000.00 |           6\r\n Nancy       | Greenberg   | 12000.00 |           6\r\n Den         | Raphaely    | 11000.00 |           7\r\n...<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-9\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>In this example, the <code>DENSE_RANK()<\/code> function treats the whole result set as a single partition because we don&#8217;t use the <code>PARTITION BY<\/code> clause.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The <code>ORDER BY<\/code> clause sorts employee salaries from high to low and the <code>DENSE_RANK()<\/code> function assigns a rank to each employee based on the salary amount.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='using-sql-dense_rank-function-over-partition-example'>Using SQL DENSE_RANK() function over partition example <a href=\"#using-sql-dense_rank-function-over-partition-example\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"using-sql-dense_rank-function-over-partition-example\" title=\"Anchor for Using SQL DENSE_RANK() function over partition example\">#<\/a><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The following statement uses the <code>DENSE_RANK<\/code> function to rank employees in each department by their salaries:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-10\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span>\r\n  first_name,\r\n  last_name,\r\n  department_name,\r\n  salary,\r\n  <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">DENSE_RANK<\/span>() <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">OVER<\/span> (\r\n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">PARTITION<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">BY<\/span> department_name\r\n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">ORDER<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">BY<\/span> salary <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">DESC<\/span>\r\n  ) salary_rank\r\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span>\r\n  employees e\r\n  <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">INNER<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">JOIN<\/span> departments d <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">ON<\/span> d.department_id = e.department_id;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-10\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/playground\/?q=U0VMRUNUIGZpcnN0X25hbWUsIGxhc3RfbmFtZSwgZGVwYXJ0bWVudF9uYW1lLCBzYWxhcnksIERFTlNFX1JBTksoKSBPVkVSICggUEFSVElUSU9OIEJZIGRlcGFydG1lbnRfbmFtZSBPUkRFUiBCWSBzYWxhcnkgREVTQyApIHNhbGFyeV9yYW5rIEZST00gZW1wbG95ZWVzIGUgSU5ORVIgSk9JTiBkZXBhcnRtZW50cyBkIE9OIGQuZGVwYXJ0bWVudF9pZCA9IGUuZGVwYXJ0bWVudF9pZDs%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Output:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-11\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\">first_name  |  last_name  | department_name  |  salary  | salary_rank\r\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\">-------------+-------------+------------------+----------+-------------<\/span>\r\n Shelley     | Higgins     | Accounting       | 12000.00 |           1\r\n William     | Gietz       | Accounting       |  8300.00 |           2\r\n Jennifer    | Whalen      | Administration   |  4400.00 |           1\r\n Steven      | King        | Executive        | 24000.00 |           1\r\n Neena       | Kochhar     | Executive        | 17000.00 |           2\r\n Lex         | De Haan     | Executive        | 17000.00 |           2\r\n Nancy       | Greenberg   | Finance          | 12000.00 |           1\r\n Daniel      | Faviet      | Finance          |  9000.00 |           2\r\n John        | Chen        | Finance          |  8200.00 |           3\r\n Jose Manuel | Urman       | Finance          |  7800.00 |           4\r\n Ismael      | Sciarra     | Finance          |  7700.00 |           5\r\n Luis        | Popp        | Finance          |  6900.00 |           6\r\n...<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-11\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>In this example:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li>First, the <code>PARTITION BY<\/code> clause divides the employees by departments into partitions.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Then, the <code>ORDER BY<\/code> clause sorts the employees in each department (partition) by their salaries.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Third, the <code>DENSE_RANK()<\/code> function assigns a rank to each row in each partition based on salary order.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>If you want to find only employees who have the highest\u00a0salary in their departments, you can use a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-subquery\/\">subquery<\/a> in the <code>FROM<\/code> clause as follows:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-12\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span>\r\n  *\r\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span>\r\n  (\r\n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span>\r\n      first_name,\r\n      last_name,\r\n      department_name,\r\n      salary,\r\n      <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">DENSE_RANK<\/span>() <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">OVER<\/span> (\r\n        <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">PARTITION<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">BY<\/span>\r\n          department_name\r\n        <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">ORDER<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">BY<\/span>\r\n          salary <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">DESC<\/span>\r\n      ) salary_rank\r\n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">FROM<\/span>\r\n      employees e\r\n      <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">INNER<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">JOIN<\/span> departments d <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">ON<\/span> d.department_id = e.department_id\r\n  ) t\r\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">WHERE<\/span>\r\n  salary_rank = <span class=\"hljs-number\">1<\/span>;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-12\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/playground\/?q=U0VMRUNUICogRlJPTSAoIFNFTEVDVCBmaXJzdF9uYW1lLCBsYXN0X25hbWUsIGRlcGFydG1lbnRfbmFtZSwgc2FsYXJ5LCBERU5TRV9SQU5LKCkgT1ZFUiAoIFBBUlRJVElPTiBCWSBkZXBhcnRtZW50X25hbWUgT1JERVIgQlkgc2FsYXJ5IERFU0MgKSBzYWxhcnlfcmFuayBGUk9NIGVtcGxveWVlcyBlIElOTkVSIEpPSU4gZGVwYXJ0bWVudHMgZCBPTiBkLmRlcGFydG1lbnRfaWQgPSBlLmRlcGFydG1lbnRfaWQgKSB0IFdIRVJFIHNhbGFyeV9yYW5rID0gMTs%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try it<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Output:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-13\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"> first_name | last_name | department_name  |  salary  | salary_rank\r\n<span class=\"hljs-comment\">------------+-----------+------------------+----------+-------------<\/span>\r\n Shelley    | Higgins   | Accounting       | 12000.00 |           1\r\n Jennifer   | Whalen    | Administration   |  4400.00 |           1\r\n Steven     | King      | Executive        | 24000.00 |           1\r\n Nancy      | Greenberg | Finance          | 12000.00 |           1\r\n Susan      | Mavris    | Human Resources  |  6500.00 |           1\r\n Alexander  | Hunold    | IT               |  9000.00 |           1\r\n Michael    | Hartstein | Marketing        | 13000.00 |           1\r\n Hermann    | Baer      | Public Relations | 10000.00 |           1\r\n Den        | Raphaely  | Purchasing       | 11000.00 |           1\r\n John       | Russell   | Sales            | 14000.00 |           1\r\n Adam       | Fripp     | Shipping         |  8200.00 |           1<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-13\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='summary'>Summary <a href=\"#summary\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"summary\" title=\"Anchor for Summary\">#<\/a><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li>Use the SQL <code>DENSE_RANK()<\/code> function to rank rows in partitions without gaps in ranking values.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='databases'>Databases <a href=\"#databases\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"databases\" title=\"Anchor for Databases\">#<\/a><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-window-functions\/postgresql-dense_rank\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">PostgreSQL DENSE_RANK function<\/a><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oracletutorial.com\/oracle-analytic-functions\/oracle-dense_rank\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Oracle DENSE_RANK function<\/a><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqlservertutorial.net\/sql-server-window-functions\/sql-server-dense_rank-function\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SQL Server DENSE_RANK function<\/a><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mysqltutorial.org\/mysql-window-functions\/mysql-dense_rank-function\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MySQL DENSE_RANK function<\/a><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqlitetutorial.net\/sqlite-window-functions\/sqlite-dense_rank\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SQLite DENSE_RANK function<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<div class=\"helpful-block-content\" data-title=\"\">\n\t<header>\n\t\t<div class=\"wth-question\">Was this tutorial helpful ?<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wth-thumbs\">\n\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\tdata-post=\"1725\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-post-url=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-window-functions\/sql-dense_rank\/\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-post-title=\"SQL DENSE_RANK 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tutorial shows you how to use the SQL DENSE_RANK() function to rank rows in partitions with no gaps in ranking values.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1707,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1725","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SQL DENSE_RANK() Function<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This tutorial shows you how to use the SQL DENSE_RANK() function to rank rows in partitions with no gaps in ranking values.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sqltutorial.org\/sql-window-functions\/sql-dense_rank\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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