WHERE Clause & Filtering SQL practice problemMediumVerified answerSQLite + PostgreSQL + MySQL + SQL Server live · 1 guided

Review Candidates at Inclusive Salary Boundaries

Find candidates earning from $60,000 through $75,000.

Filtering
Sorting

Interview brief

Understand the request

Candidate compensation analyst A salary-band review must retain candidates at both approved endpoints.

Return candidates earning from $60,000 through $75,000, including both endpoints.

Return

Sort by salary ascending, then candidate_id ascending to break ties.

Constraints

Treat both $60,000 and $75,000 as inclusive boundaries.

Data you will use

Review the relevant tables before deciding how to join, filter, or aggregate them.

cohort_candidates

candidate_idINTEGER
team_codeTEXT
salaryDECIMAL

Hints, when you need them

Open one clue at a time so you still do the reasoning.

Hint 1

An inclusive range keeps rows at both the lower and upper salary boundaries.

Hint 2

Use BETWEEN with the lower value first, then make ordering deterministic for candidates who share a salary.

Hint 3

SELECT candidate_id, team_code, salary FROM cohort_candidates WHERE salary BETWEEN /* inclusive lower */ AND /* inclusive upper */ ORDER BY salary, /* tie breaker */;

Verified SQL answer

Attempt the problem first, then compare structure and reasoning—not just syntax.

Reveal solution and explanation

SELECT candidate_id, team_code, salary FROM cohort_candidates WHERE salary BETWEEN 60000 AND 75000 ORDER BY salary, candidate_id;

Why this works

BETWEEN is equivalent to `salary >= 60000 AND salary <= 75000`, so the fixture's exact $60,000 and $75,000 rows must be present. Using strict comparisons drops those boundary candidates, while reversing the endpoints returns no rows. Numeric BETWEEN is inclusive across all supported engines; the second sort key makes equal salaries deterministic.

Success check

Every salary is inside the inclusive band and equal salaries have deterministic ordering.

Expected result

Use this output to verify values, aliases, ordering, and row count.

candidate_id	team_code	salary
101	DATA	60000
109	DATA	60000
102	PLATFORM	60001
113	DATA	68000
114	SALES	69000
103	IT	70000
104	SALES	70001
105	IT	72000
111	SECURITY	74000
106	HR	75000

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