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445. RANGE JOIN

Learn how to join records when a value falls within a defined range.

📘 Lesson 445 of 728 ⏱ 11 min 🎯 Intermediate

A RANGE JOIN matches a value from one table against a minimum and maximum range stored in another table.

Many business rules are represented as ranges rather than exact values.

Assign each employee a salary grade based on their salary range.

SQL 
SELECT
    e.EmployeeName,
    e.Salary,
    g.Grade
FROM Employees e
JOIN SalaryGrades g
    ON e.Salary >= g.MinSalary
   AND e.Salary <= g.MaxSalary;

Range joins are useful for salary grades, tax calculations, commission rates, pricing tiers, risk scoring, and date validity periods.

  • Range JOINs match values against intervals.
  • Minimum and maximum boundaries define the range.
  • BETWEEN can simplify range conditions.
  • Ranges should be designed carefully.
  • Overlapping ranges can create duplicate matches.
What is a RANGE JOIN?

A RANGE JOIN matches a value from one table against a defined interval in another table.

What problem can overlapping ranges cause?

Overlapping ranges can cause one record to match multiple rows and produce duplicate results.

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