Find 2nd Highest Salary in MySQL

Find 2nd Highest Salary in MySQL

Method 1: Using LIMIT

This is the simplest and most commonly used method.

SELECT DISTINCT salary 
FROM employees
ORDER BY salary DESC
LIMIT 1 OFFSET 1;

Note: This returns the second highest unique salary.

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Method 2: Using Subquery

This method is easy to understand and works reliably.

SELECT MAX(salary) AS second_highest
FROM employees
WHERE salary < (SELECT MAX(salary) FROM employees);

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Method 3: Using DENSE_RANK() (MySQL 8+)

This method is useful for advanced queries and interviews.

SELECT salary
FROM (
    SELECT salary, DENSE_RANK() OVER (ORDER BY salary DESC) AS rnk
    FROM employees
) t
WHERE rnk = 2;

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Notes

• DISTINCT removes duplicate salaries
• If all salaries are the same, the result may be NULL
• Assumes table structure: employees(salary)  

Further Reading

1.  SQL Query Simulator for the employees database
2. SQL Query Online Simulator – Run & Practice SQL in Browser