Subqueries in SQL - How they work?

with examples

Write queries within queries to find answers to complex questions!

Examples Concept
main query Example-1 Single Row Subquery
Example-2 Multiple Row Subquery
Example-3 Multiple Column Subquery
Example-4 Nested Subquery
sub-query Example-5 Subquery using Aggregare Function
Example-6 Subquery with Joins
Example-7 Subquery in FROM Clause
sub-query-1 Example-8 Subquery using EXISTS

sub-query-2
1 Find a list of students who scored higher than average.

stud_details

stud_id name marks

1001 John 30
1002 Marcus 45
1003 Robert 60
1004 Luke 70
1005 Ryan 50
1006 Chris 100

Let's first find out what the average is.

59

What are the rows where the student has scored above-average marks?

stud_details

stud_id name marks

1001 John 30
1002 Marcus 45
1003 Robert 60
1004 Luke 70
1005 Ryan 50
1006 Chris 100

How can I write a query to get this answer programmatically?

[SUBQUERY]
SELECT AVG(marks) FROM stud_details;
59
The query above can be part of an outer query to filter for above-average rows.

SELECT * FROM stud_details WHERE marks > [SUBQUERY]

SELECT * FROM stud_details WHERE marks > SELECT AVG(marks) FROM stud_details
SELECT * FROM stud_details WHERE marks > (59)

stud_id name marks

1003 Robert 60
1004 Luke 70
1006 Chris 100
2 Find the average age of students who have scored above 75 in math.

stud_details stud_marks

stud_id name age stud_id subject marks

1001 John 9 1001 math 50

1002 Marcus 11 1001 science 80
1003 Robert 10 1002 math 60
1004 Luke 10 1002 science 30
1005 Ryan 9 1003 math 80
1006 Chris 11 1003 science 40
1004 math 85
1004 science 100
1005 math 90
1005 science 45
1006 math 95
1006 science 90

Let's first find the student IDs for those who have scored above 75 in math.

stud_marks

stud_id subject marks

1001 math 50
1001 science 80
1002 math 60
1002 science 30
1003 math 80
1003 science 40
1004 math 85
1004 science 100
1005 math 90
1005 science 45
1006 math 95
1006 science 90
Now, let's find the average age for those student IDs who have scored more than 75 in math.

stud_details

stud_id name age

1003 Robert 10
1004 Luke 10
1005 Ryan 9
1006 Chris 11

average_age 10

How can I write a query to get this answer programmatically?

[SUBQUERY]
SELECT stud_id FROM stud_marks WHERE marks > 75 AND subject = 'math'

stud_details

stud_id name age

1003 Robert 10
1004 Luke 10
1005 Ryan 9
1006 Chris 11
The query above can be part of an outer query to filter student ids above 75 in math.

SELECT AVG(age) as average_age FROM stud_details WHERE stud_id IN [SUBQUERY]

SELECT AVG(age) as average_age FROM stud_details WHERE stud_id IN (SELECT stud_id FROM stud_marks WHERE marks > 75 AND subject = 'math')
SELECT AVG(age) as average_age FROM stud_details WHERE stud_id IN (1003,1004,1005,1006)

stud_details

stud_id name age

1003 Robert 10
1004 Luke 10
 1005 Ryan 9
1006 Chris 11

average_age 10
3 Find the transactions of the products with the lowest price, within each category.

transaction

id category product cost price

1001 X A 45 50
1002 X B 50 60
1003 X A 40 43
1004 Y C 56 60
1005 Y D 70 85
1006 Z D 70 90

Let's first find the categories with the lowest prices.

category price

X 43
Y 60
Z 90

Let's return the transaction details of those records that have a matching category and price.

transaction

id category product cost price

1003 X A 40 43
1004 Y C 56 60
1006 Z D 70 90

Find the transactions with the lowest price for each category.
 transaction

id category product cost price

1001 X A 45 50
1002 X B 50 60
1003 X A 40 43
1004 Y C 56 60
1005 Y D 70 85
1006 Z D 70 90

[SUBQUERY]
SELECT Category, MIN(Price) as MinPrice FROM Transaction GROUP BY Category
The above query will give me this table:

category price

X 43
Y 60
Z 90
The query above can be part of an outer query to filter unique categories along with their lowest price.

SELECT * FROM transaction WHERE (category, price) IN [SUBQUERY]

SELECT * FROM transaction

WHERE (category, min_price) IN (SELECT category, MIN(price) as min_price
FROM transaction
GROUP BY category)

transaction

id category product cost price

1003 X A 40 43
1004 Y C 56 60
1006 Z D 70 90
4 What is the average age of students who have scored below average in science?

stud_details stud_marks

stud_id name age stud_id subject marks

1001 John 9 1001 math 50

1002 Marcus 11 1001 science 80
1003 Robert 10 1002 math 60
1004 Luke 10 1002 science 30
1005 Ryan 9 1003 math 80
1006 Chris 11 1003 science 40
1004 math 85
1004 science 100
1005 math 90
1005 science 45
1006 math 95
1006 science 90

Let's first find the average marks in science.

stud_marks

stud_id subject marks

1001 math 50
1001 science 80
1002 math 60
1002 science 30
1003 math 80
1003 science 40
1004 math 85
1004 science 100
1005 math 90
 1005 science 45
1006 math 95
1006 science 90

64

Now, find the student IDs whose science grades are below the national average.

stud_id marks

1002 30
1003 40
1005 45

Now, let's retrieve the average age of the rows that match the above student IDs.

stud_details

stud_id name age

1001 John 9
1002 Marcus 11
1003 Robert 10
1004 Luke 10
1005 Ryan 9
1006 Chris 11

Average_Age 10

What are the rows where the student has scored below-average marks?

stud_details stud_marks

stud_id name Age stud_id subject marks

1001 John 9 1001 math 50

1002 Marcus 11 1001 science 80
 1003 Robert 10 1002 math 60
1004 Luke 10 1002 science 30
1005 Ryan 9 1003 math 80
1006 Chris 11 1003 science 40
1004 math 85
1004 science 100
1005 math 90
1005 science 45
1006 math 95
1006 science 90

How can I write a query to get this answer programmatically?

[SUBQUERY-1]
SELECT AVG(marks) FROM stud_marks WHERE subject = 'science'
59
The query above can be part of an outer query to filter for below-average marks in science.

[SUBQUERY-2]
SELECT stud_id FROM stud_marks WHERE marks < ([SUBQUERY-1]) AND subject = 'science'
SELECT stud_id FROM stud_marks WHERE marks < (SELECT AVG(marks) FROM stud_marks WHERE subject = 'science') AND subject = 'science'

stud_id marks

1002 30
1003 40
1005 45

SELECT AVG(age) as Average_Age FROM stud_details WHERE stud_id IN ([SUBQUERY-2])

SELECT AVG(age) as Average_Age

FROM stud_details
WHERE stud_id IN (SELECT stud_id FROM stud_marks WHERE marks < ([SUBQUERY-1]) AND subject = 'science')
SELECT AVG(age) as Average_Age
FROM stud_details
WHERE stud_id IN (SELECT stud_id
FROM stud_marks
WHERE marks < (SELECT AVG(marks) FROM stud_marks WHERE subject = 'science')
AND subject = 'science')

Average_Age 10
5 Find the products where the average cost of each product is more than the maximum cost of product A.

transaction

id category product cost price

1001 X A 45 50
1002 X B 50 60
1003 X A 40 43
1004 Y C 56 60
1005 Y D 70 85
1006 Z D 70 90

Let's first find the maximum cost of product A across all categories.
45

Let us now look for a product with an average cost greater than 45.

product avg_cost

B 50
C 56
D 70

How can I write a query to get this answer programmatically?

[SUBQUERY]
SELECT MAX(cost) FROM transaction WHERE product = 'A';
45
The query above can be part of an outer query to filter for above-average rows.

SELECT product, AVG(cost) as avg_cost

FROM transaction
GROUP BY product
HAVING AVG(cost) > [SUBQUERY]

SELECT product, AVG(cost) as avg_cost

FROM transaction
GROUP BY product
HAVING AVG(cost) > (SELECT MAX(cost) FROM transaction WHERE product='A')

product avg_cost

B 50
C 56
D 70
6 Find student information and scores for students over the age of nine.

stud_details stud_marks

stud_id name age stud_id subject marks

1001 John 9 1001 math 50

1002 Marcus 11 1001 science 80
1003 Robert 10 1002 math 60
1004 Luke 10 1002 science 30
1005 Ryan 9 1003 math 80
1006 Chris 11 1003 science 40
1004 math 85
1004 science 100
1005 math 90
1005 science 45
1006 math 95
1006 science 90

Let's first find all the students who are more than 9 years old.

stud_id name age

1002 Marcus 11
1003 Robert 10
1004 Luke 10
1006 Chris 11

Now, let's join the above data with stud_marks to find their respective marks.
 stud_id name age subject marks

1002 Marcus 11 math 60

1002 Marcus 11 science 30
1003 Robert 10 math 80
1003 Robert 10 science 40
1004 Luke 10 math 85
1004 Luke 10 science 100
1006 Chris 11 math 95
1006 Chris 11 science 90

How can I write a query to get this answer programmatically?

[SUBQUERY]
SELECT * FROM stud_details WHERE age > 9

stud_id name age

1002 Marcus 11
1003 Robert 10
1004 Luke 10
1006 Chris 11
The query above can be part of an outer query to join with another table.

SELECT age9.*, mrks.subject, mrks.marks

FROM stud_marks as mrks
INNER JOIN ([SUBQUERY]) as age9
ON mrks.stud_id=age9.stud_id
SELECT age9.*, mrks.subject, M.marks
FROM stud_marks as mrks
INNER JOIN (SELECT * FROM stud_details WHERE age > 9) as age9
ON mrks.stud_id=age9.stud_id

stud_id name age subject marks

1002 Marcus 11 math 60

1002 Marcus 11 science 30
1003 Robert 10 math 80
1003 Robert 10 science 40
1004 Luke 10 math 85
1004 Luke 10 science 100
1006 Chris 11 math 95
1006 Chris 11 science 90
7 Find all the instructors whose salary is greater than the average budget of all departments.

instructor_details departments

id name department_id salary id department budget

1001 Richard 1 45000 1 Business 50000

1002 Michael 1 50000 2 Arts 45000
1003 Rob 3 60000 3 Science 55000
1004 Marcus 2 45000
1005 Mason 2 40000
1006 Luke 3 55000

Let's first find the average budget for department.

50000

Let's look for the instructor whose salary is more than $50,000.

id name department_id salary

1003 Rob 3 60000

1006 Luke 3 55000

How can I write a query to get this answer programmatically?

[SUBQUERY]
SELECT AVG(Budget) FROM Department
50000
The query above can be part of an outer query to join with another table.

SELECT ins.id, ins.name, ins.salary

FROM [SUBQUERY], instructor as ins
WHERE ins.salary > SUBQ

SELECT I.id, I.name, I.department_id, I.salary

FROM (SELECT AVG(Budget) FROM Department) as B, Instructor as I
WHERE I.Salary > B.AVG(Budget)

id name department_id salary

1003 Rob 3 60000

1006 Luke 3 55000
8 Find all the details for students who passed in science.

stud_details stud_marks

stud_id name marks stud_id subject result

1001 John 30 1001 math pass

1002 Marcus 45 1001 science pass
1003 Robert 60 1002 math pass
1004 Luke 70 1002 science fail
1005 Ryan 50 1003 math pass
1006 Chris 100 1003 science fail
1004 math pass
1004 science pass
1005 math pass
1005 science pass
1006 math pass
1006 science pass

Let's first find all the student IDs who have passed in science.

stud_marks

stud_id subject result

1001 math pass

1001 science pass
1002 math pass
1002 science fail
1003 math pass
1003 science fail
 1004 math pass
1004 science pass
1005 math pass
1005 science pass
1006 math pass
1006 science pass

Now, let's find the student details, which have student IDs as highlighted above.

stud_id name marks

1001 John 30
1004 Luke 70
1005 Ryan 50
1006 Chris 100

How can I write a query to get this answer programmatically?

[SUBQUERY]
SELECT stud_id FROM stud_marks WHERE result = 'Pass' and subject = 'science'
This query can be used to check if these student IDs "exist" as part of a table in an outer query.

SELECT * FROM stud_details WHERE EXISTS [SUBQUERY]

SELECT * FROM stud_details WHERE EXISTS (SELECT stud_id FROM stud_marks WHERE result='Pass' and subject = 'science')

stud_id name marks

1001 John 30
1004 Luke 70
1005 Ryan 50
1006 Chris 100