PostgreSQL 18 reference · Window Functions

PostgreSQL DENSE_RANK() Function

Rank rows by ORDER BY, giving ties the same rank with no gaps after them (1, 2, 2, 3).

PostgreSQL 18 Since 8.4

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Syntax

dense_rank() OVER (PARTITION BY ... ORDER BY ...)

Return value

bigint.

Examples

rank() vs dense_rank()

SELECT name, title, rank() OVER w AS rank, dense_rank() OVER w AS dense
FROM employees
WHERE department = 'Engineering'
WINDOW w AS (ORDER BY title);

Output

     name     |        title        | rank | dense
--------------+---------------------+------+-------
 Omar Haddad  | CTO                 |    1 |     1
 Priya Nair   | Engineer            |    2 |     2
 Lucas Martin | Engineer            |    2 |     2
 Mei Chen     | Engineering Manager |    4 |     3
 Jonas Berg   | Senior Engineer     |    5 |     4
(5 rows)

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Top three salary levels

SELECT DISTINCT salary, dense_rank() OVER (ORDER BY salary DESC) AS level
FROM employees
ORDER BY level
LIMIT 3;