MySQL MIN() and MAX() Functions

MIN() gives the smallest value in a column. MAX() gives the largest value in a column. They are aggregate functions. By default they ignore NULL values.

MIN() Syntax

SELECT MIN(column_name)
FROM table_name
WHERE condition;

MAX() Syntax

SELECT MAX(column_name)
FROM table_name
WHERE condition;

You can use them:

On the whole table (returns a single row).
With GROUP BY (returns one row per group).
With WHERE to filter records before computing the min or max.

Demo Database (Products)

We will use a small Products selection:

ProductID	ProductName	Category	Price
1	Chai	Beverages	18
2	Chang	Beverages	19
3	Aniseed Syrup	Condiments	10
4	Chef Anton’s Cajun Seasoning	Condiments	22
5	Ikura	Seafood	31
6	Konbu	Seafood	6

MIN() Example — Lowest Price in the Whole Table

Find the smallest product price:

SELECT MIN(Price) AS LowestPrice
FROM Products;

Expected result:

LowestPrice
6

MAX() Example — Highest Price in the Whole Table

Find the largest product price:

SELECT MAX(Price) AS HighestPrice
FROM Products;

Expected result:

HighestPrice
31

MIN() and MAX() with WHERE

Compute min or max for a subset.
Example: only the Seafood category:

SELECT MIN(Price) AS MinSeafood, MAX(Price) AS MaxSeafood
FROM Products
WHERE Category = 'Seafood';

Expected result:

MinSeafood	MaxSeafood
6	31

MIN() and MAX() with GROUP BY

Find the min and max price per category:

SELECT Category, MIN(Price) AS MinPrice, MAX(Price) AS MaxPrice
FROM Products
GROUP BY Category;

Expected result:

Category	MinPrice	MaxPrice
Beverages	18	19
Condiments	10	22
Seafood	6	31

Get the Full Row for the Cheapest or Costliest Product

MIN() and MAX() return a single value. To get the full row with that value, use a subquery.

Cheapest product(s):

SELECT ProductID, ProductName, Price
FROM Products
WHERE Price = (SELECT MIN(Price) FROM Products);

Costliest product(s):

SELECT ProductID, ProductName, Price
FROM Products
WHERE Price = (SELECT MAX(Price) FROM Products);

This returns all ties if multiple products share the same min or max price.

Handling NULL values in MIN/MAX

NULL values are ignored by MIN and MAX.
If all rows are NULL, the result is NULL.
Use WHERE column IS NOT NULL if you want to be explicit.

Conclusion

You learned how to limit and paginate results using LIMIT, including OFFSET, ordering, and best practices for performance. You also learned how to compute MIN() and MAX() on the whole table and per group, how to combine these functions with WHERE and GROUP BY, and how to return the full row(s) for the minimum or maximum values. These skills are used in real web applications – for example, product listings, leaderboards, dashboards, and price summaries.

Next blog: we will cover MySQL COUNT(), SUM(), and AVG() along with LIKE and WILDCARDS. These aggregate tools help you create powerful reports and insights for your projects.

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MySQL MIN() and MAX() Functions