SQL BETWEEN Operator

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

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

BETWEEN Operator Example

The "Persons" table:

Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Navis	Anto	Madras	TVL
2	Ji	Bala	Bombay	TVL
3	Christopher	Franklin	America	KK

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

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName BETWEEN 'Navis' AND 'Christopher'

The result-set will look like this:

Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Navis	Anto	Madras	TVL

Note: The BETWEEN operator is treated differently in different databases!
In some databases, persons with the LastName of "Navis" or "Christopher" 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 "Navis" or "Christopher" 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 "Navis" will be listed, but "Christopher" 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.

Example 2

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

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName NOT BETWEEN 'Navis' AND 'Christopher'

The result-set will look like this:

Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
2	Ji	Bala	Bombay	TVL
3	Christopher	Franklin	America	KK