Categories:: Data metric functions

MEDIAN (system data metric function)¶

Returns the median value for the specified column in a table. The median is more robust than the average for columns with skewed distributions.

The MEDIAN system data metric function is optimized to calculate the median for a single column and provides greater performance when compared to calling the MEDIAN function.

This topic provides the syntax for calling the function directly. To learn how to associate the function with a table or view so it runs at regular intervals, see Associate a DMF.

Syntax¶

SNOWFLAKE.CORE.MEDIAN(<query>)

Arguments¶

query: Specifies a SQL query that projects a single column.

Allowed data types¶

The column projected by the query must have one of the following data types:

FLOAT
NUMBER

Returns¶

The function returns a FLOAT value.

Example¶

Measure the median value of the salary column:

SELECT SNOWFLAKE.CORE.MEDIAN(
  SELECT
    salary
  FROM hr.tables.empl_info
);