SQL GROUP BY and Aggregate Functions: Summarize Your Data

Published: 2026-04-08

GROUP BY collapses multiple rows that share the same value in one or more columns into a single summary row. Combined with aggregate functions like COUNT, SUM, AVG, MIN, and MAX, it is the foundation of almost every reporting and analytics query. GROUP BY is supported in all SQL databases including SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, and Oracle.

Sample Data

We use two tables in all examples:

employees table:

id	name	department	hire_date	salary
1	Alice	Engineering	2023-01-15	95000
2	Bob	Engineering	2023-06-01	85000
3	Carol	Engineering	2024-03-10	85000
4	Dave	Sales	2023-02-20	72000
5	Eve	Sales	2023-09-05	68000
6	Frank	Sales	2024-01-15	65000
7	Grace	Marketing	2023-04-01	82000
8	Henry	Marketing	2024-06-01	70000

orders table:

id	customer	product	category	quantity	unit_price	order_date	status
1	Acme Corp	Laptop Pro	Electronics	3	1299.99	2026-01-05	delivered
2	Acme Corp	Wireless Mouse	Electronics	10	29.99	2026-01-12	delivered
3	Globex	Office Chair	Furniture	5	249.99	2026-01-18	delivered
4	Globex	Standing Desk	Furniture	2	599.99	2026-01-20	shipped
5	Initech	Notebook Pack	Stationery	20	12.99	2026-02-03	delivered
6	Initech	Pen Set	Stationery	15	8.99	2026-02-07	delivered
7	Acme Corp	Monitor 27"	Electronics	4	399.99	2026-02-14	delivered
8	Umbrella Ltd	Laptop Pro	Electronics	2	1299.99	2026-02-20	cancelled
9	Umbrella Ltd	Desk Lamp	Furniture	8	39.99	2026-03-01	delivered
10	Globex	Wireless Mouse	Electronics	12	29.99	2026-03-05	shipped
11	Initech	Monitor 27"	Electronics	1	399.99	2026-03-10	delivered
12	Acme Corp	Standing Desk	Furniture	1	599.99	2026-03-15	processing

Explore dataset in DbGate Lite

GROUP BY Syntax

SELECT column1, aggregate_function(column2)
FROM table_name
WHERE condition
GROUP BY column1
HAVING aggregate_condition
ORDER BY column1;

GROUP BY — one or more columns whose distinct value combinations define each group
Aggregate functions — compute a single value from all rows in the group
HAVING — filters groups (like WHERE, but for grouped results)
Every column in SELECT that is not inside an aggregate must appear in GROUP BY

SQL Execution Order

SQL clauses are written in one order but executed in a different order. Understanding this helps explain why HAVING can reference aggregate functions but WHERE cannot, and why you cannot use a SELECT alias in a HAVING clause.

FROM → WHERE → GROUP BY → HAVING → SELECT → ORDER BY

Step	Clause	What happens
1	FROM	Load the table(s) and evaluate any JOINs
2	WHERE	Filter individual rows — aggregate functions are not allowed here
3	GROUP BY	Collapse remaining rows into groups
4	HAVING	Filter groups — aggregate functions are allowed here
5	SELECT	Compute output columns and aliases
6	ORDER BY	Sort the final result set

This is why WHERE status = 'delivered' runs before grouping (fast, row-level filter), while HAVING COUNT(*) > 2 runs after grouping (filters whole groups).

COUNT()

COUNT(*) counts all rows in a group. COUNT(column) counts non-NULL values in that column.

Example: Number of Employees per Department

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

INSERT INTO employees (id, name, department, hire_date, salary) VALUES
  (1, &#39;Alice&#39;, &#39;Engineering&#39;, &#39;2023-01-15&#39;, 95000),
  (2, &#39;Bob&#39;, &#39;Engineering&#39;, &#39;2023-06-01&#39;, 85000),
  (3, &#39;Carol&#39;, &#39;Engineering&#39;, &#39;2024-03-10&#39;, 85000),
  (4, &#39;Dave&#39;, &#39;Sales&#39;, &#39;2023-02-20&#39;, 72000),
  (5, &#39;Eve&#39;, &#39;Sales&#39;, &#39;2023-09-05&#39;, 68000),
  (6, &#39;Frank&#39;, &#39;Sales&#39;, &#39;2024-01-15&#39;, 65000),
  (7, &#39;Grace&#39;, &#39;Marketing&#39;, &#39;2023-04-01&#39;, 82000),
  (8, &#39;Henry&#39;, &#39;Marketing&#39;, &#39;2024-06-01&#39;, 70000);

INSERT INTO orders (id, customer, product, category, quantity, unit_price, order_date, status) VALUES
  (1, &#39;Acme Corp&#39;, &#39;Laptop Pro&#39;, &#39;Electronics&#39;, 3, 1299.99, &#39;2026-01-05&#39;, &#39;delivered&#39;),
  (2, &#39;Acme Corp&#39;, &#39;Wireless Mouse&#39;, &#39;Electronics&#39;, 10, 29.99, &#39;2026-01-12&#39;, &#39;delivered&#39;),
  (3, &#39;Globex&#39;, &#39;Office Chair&#39;, &#39;Furniture&#39;, 5, 249.99, &#39;2026-01-18&#39;, &#39;delivered&#39;),
  (4, &#39;Globex&#39;, &#39;Standing Desk&#39;, &#39;Furniture&#39;, 2, 599.99, &#39;2026-01-20&#39;, &#39;shipped&#39;),
  (5, &#39;Initech&#39;, &#39;Notebook Pack&#39;, &#39;Stationery&#39;, 20, 12.99, &#39;2026-02-03&#39;, &#39;delivered&#39;),
  (6, &#39;Initech&#39;, &#39;Pen Set&#39;, &#39;Stationery&#39;, 15, 8.99, &#39;2026-02-07&#39;, &#39;delivered&#39;),
  (7, &#39;Acme Corp&#39;, &#39;Monitor 27&#34;&#39;, &#39;Electronics&#39;, 4, 399.99, &#39;2026-02-14&#39;, &#39;delivered&#39;),
  (8, &#39;Umbrella Ltd&#39;, &#39;Laptop Pro&#39;, &#39;Electronics&#39;, 2, 1299.99, &#39;2026-02-20&#39;, &#39;cancelled&#39;),
  (9, &#39;Umbrella Ltd&#39;, &#39;Desk Lamp&#39;, &#39;Furniture&#39;, 8, 39.99, &#39;2026-03-01&#39;, &#39;delivered&#39;),
  (10, &#39;Globex&#39;, &#39;Wireless Mouse&#39;, &#39;Electronics&#39;, 12, 29.99, &#39;2026-03-05&#39;, &#39;shipped&#39;),
  (11, &#39;Initech&#39;, &#39;Monitor 27&#34;&#39;, &#39;Electronics&#39;, 1, 399.99, &#39;2026-03-10&#39;, &#39;delivered&#39;),
  (12, &#39;Acme Corp&#39;, &#39;Standing Desk&#39;, &#39;Furniture&#39;, 1, 599.99, &#39;2026-03-15&#39;, &#39;processing&#39;);

Example: Number of Orders per Customer

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Example: Count Delivered vs. Other Statuses

Count only orders matching a condition using COUNT with a CASE expression:

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

SUM()

SUM(column) adds up all values in the group for a numeric column.

Example: Total Salary per Department

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Example: Total Revenue per Category

Compute revenue as quantity * unit_price:

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Example: Revenue by Customer and Category

Group by multiple columns to break revenue down further:

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

AVG()

AVG(column) returns the arithmetic mean of all non-NULL values in the group.

Example: Average Salary per Department

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Example: Average Order Value per Customer

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

MIN() and MAX()

MIN(column) and MAX(column) return the smallest and largest values in the group.

Example: Salary Range per Department

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Example: First and Last Order Date per Customer

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Combining Multiple Aggregates

You can combine any number of aggregate functions in a single query.

Example: Full Department Summary

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Example: Order Summary per Customer

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

HAVING

HAVING filters groups after aggregation — it is the equivalent of WHERE for grouped results.

Example: Departments with More Than Two Employees

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Example: Customers with Total Revenue Above 2000

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Example: Categories with Average Order Value Below 500

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

WHERE vs. HAVING

WHERE filters individual rows before grouping. HAVING filters groups after aggregation.

Example: Revenue from Delivered Orders Only per Customer

Use WHERE to exclude rows before grouping, then HAVING to filter results:

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

GROUP BY with JOINs

You can group data that spans multiple tables by first joining them.

Example: Revenue per Department via Employee Join

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Example: Order Count and Revenue per Category and Month

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

GROUP BY with Expressions

You can group by computed expressions, not just plain columns.

Example: Employees Hired per Year

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Example: Orders by Month

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

COUNT(DISTINCT)

COUNT(DISTINCT column) counts the number of unique values in the group.

Example: Unique Products Ordered per Customer

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Filtering Groups with Multiple Conditions

HAVING supports any boolean expression, including AND/OR combinations.

Example: High-Value Active Customers

Find customers with more than one order and total revenue above 1000:

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Practical Example: Sales Report

Combine everything into a full sales summary report.

Example: Category Performance Report

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Example: Top Product by Revenue

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

GROUP BY vs. Window Functions

GROUP BY collapses rows into one row per group. Window functions keep all rows and add a computed column — see the SQL Window Functions tutorial for details.

Example: GROUP BY Returns One Row per Department

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Example: Window Function Keeps All Rows

SQL Query

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  department TEXT,
  hire_date TEXT,
  salary INTEGER
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  customer TEXT,
  product TEXT,
  category TEXT,
  quantity INTEGER,
  unit_price DECIMAL(10,2),
  order_date TEXT,
  status TEXT
);

Common Use Cases for GROUP BY

Reporting dashboards — Summarize totals, averages, and counts by category or time period
Headcount analysis — Count employees, users, or records by group
Revenue breakdown — Total and average revenue by product, region, or customer
Trend analysis — Group by month or year to spot patterns over time
Top-N per group — Combine with subqueries or CTEs to find the best performer in each group
Data validation — Count duplicates or NULL values across groups
Cohort analysis — Group users by signup date or behavior segment

Performance Tips

Index GROUP BY columns — Indexes on grouped columns speed up the sort and grouping step
Filter early with WHERE — Reducing rows before grouping with WHERE is faster than filtering after with HAVING
Avoid SELECT * — Only select columns you actually need; aggregate operations benefit from narrower data
Use covering indexes — An index that includes both the GROUP BY column and the aggregated column can avoid a full table scan
Consider materialized views — For frequently computed aggregates on large tables, some databases support pre-computed summaries

Summary

GROUP BY collapses rows that share the same column values into one summary row per unique combination
COUNT(*) counts all rows; COUNT(column) counts non-NULL values; COUNT(DISTINCT column) counts unique values
SUM totals numeric values; AVG computes the mean; MIN / MAX find the boundaries
Every SELECT column must either appear in GROUP BY or be wrapped in an aggregate function
WHERE filters rows before grouping; HAVING filters groups after aggregation
You can GROUP BY expressions (e.g., SUBSTR(date, 1, 7) for month-level grouping)
Joining tables before grouping lets you combine data from multiple sources into one report
Use window functions instead of GROUP BY when you need group-level metrics without losing individual rows

Try combining GROUP BY with JOINs, CASE expressions, and HAVING clauses to build the reports your data analysis needs!