Function to Calculate Median in SQL Server

Question

According to MSDN, Median is not available as an aggregate function in Transact-SQL. However, I would like to find out whether it is possible to create this functionality (u

Answer 1

In a UDF, write:

 Select Top 1 medianSortColumn from Table T
  Where (Select Count(*) from Table
         Where MedianSortColumn <
           (Select Count(*) From Table) / 2)
  Order By medianSortColumn

Answer 2

--Create Temp Table to Store Results in
DECLARE @results AS TABLE 
(
    [Month] datetime not null
 ,[Median] int not null
);

--This variable will determine the date
DECLARE @IntDate as int 
set @IntDate = -13


WHILE (@IntDate < 0) 
BEGIN

--Create Temp Table
DECLARE @table AS TABLE 
(
    [Rank] int not null
 ,[Days Open] int not null
);

--Insert records into Temp Table
insert into @table 

SELECT 
    rank() OVER (ORDER BY DATEADD(mm, DATEDIFF(mm, 0, DATEADD(ss, SVR.close_date, '1970')), 0), DATEDIFF(day,DATEADD(ss, SVR.open_date, '1970'),DATEADD(ss, SVR.close_date, '1970')),[SVR].[ref_num]) as [Rank]
 ,DATEDIFF(day,DATEADD(ss, SVR.open_date, '1970'),DATEADD(ss, SVR.close_date, '1970')) as [Days Open]
FROM
 mdbrpt.dbo.View_Request SVR
 LEFT OUTER JOIN dbo.dtv_apps_systems vapp 
 on SVR.category = vapp.persid
 LEFT OUTER JOIN dbo.prob_ctg pctg 
 on SVR.category = pctg.persid
 Left Outer Join [mdbrpt].[dbo].[rootcause] as [Root Cause] 
 on [SVR].[rootcause]=[Root Cause].[id]
 Left Outer Join [mdbrpt].[dbo].[cr_stat] as [Status]
 on [SVR].[status]=[Status].[code]
 LEFT OUTER JOIN [mdbrpt].[dbo].[net_res] as [net] 
 on [net].[id]=SVR.[affected_rc]
WHERE
 SVR.Type IN ('P') 
 AND
 SVR.close_date IS NOT NULL 
 AND
 [Status].[SYM] = 'Closed'
 AND
 SVR.parent is null
 AND
 [Root Cause].[sym] in ( 'RC - Application','RC - Hardware', 'RC - Operational', 'RC - Unknown')
 AND
 (
  [vapp].[appl_name] in ('3PI','Billing Rpts/Files','Collabrent','Reports','STMS','STMS 2','Telco','Comergent','OOM','C3-BAU','C3-DD','DIRECTV','DIRECTV Sales','DIRECTV Self Care','Dealer Website','EI Servlet','Enterprise Integration','ET','ICAN','ODS','SB-SCM','SeeBeyond','Digital Dashboard','IVR','OMS','Order Services','Retail Services','OSCAR','SAP','CTI','RIO','RIO Call Center','RIO Field Services','FSS-RIO3','TAOS','TCS')
 OR
  pctg.sym in ('Systems.Release Health Dashboard.Problem','DTV QA Test.Enterprise Release.Deferred Defect Log')
 AND  
  [Net].[nr_desc] in ('3PI','Billing Rpts/Files','Collabrent','Reports','STMS','STMS 2','Telco','Comergent','OOM','C3-BAU','C3-DD','DIRECTV','DIRECTV Sales','DIRECTV Self Care','Dealer Website','EI Servlet','Enterprise Integration','ET','ICAN','ODS','SB-SCM','SeeBeyond','Digital Dashboard','IVR','OMS','Order Services','Retail Services','OSCAR','SAP','CTI','RIO','RIO Call Center','RIO Field Services','FSS-RIO3','TAOS','TCS')
 )
 AND
 DATEADD(mm, DATEDIFF(mm, 0, DATEADD(ss, SVR.close_date, '1970')), 0) = DATEADD(mm, DATEDIFF(mm,0,DATEADD(mm,@IntDate,getdate())), 0)
ORDER BY [Days Open]



DECLARE @Count AS INT
SELECT @Count = COUNT(*) FROM @table;

WITH MyResults(RowNo, [Days Open]) AS
(
    SELECT RowNo, [Days Open] FROM
        (SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY [Days Open]) AS RowNo, [Days Open] FROM @table) AS Foo
)


insert into @results
SELECT 
 DATEADD(mm, DATEDIFF(mm,0,DATEADD(mm,@IntDate,getdate())), 0) as [Month]
 ,AVG([Days Open])as [Median] FROM MyResults WHERE RowNo = (@Count+1)/2 OR RowNo = ((@Count+1)%2) * ((@Count+2)/2) 


set @IntDate = @IntDate+1
DELETE FROM @table
END

select *
from @results
order by [Month]

Answer 3

The following query returns the median from a list of values in one column. It cannot be used as or along with an aggregate function, but you can still use it as a sub-query with a WHERE clause in the inner select.

SQL Server 2005+:

SELECT TOP 1 value from
(
    SELECT TOP 50 PERCENT value 
    FROM table_name 
    ORDER BY  value
)for_median
ORDER BY value DESC

Answer 4

If you're using SQL 2005 or better this is a nice, simple-ish median calculation for a single column in a table:

SELECT
(
 (SELECT MAX(Score) FROM
   (SELECT TOP 50 PERCENT Score FROM Posts ORDER BY Score) AS BottomHalf)
 +
 (SELECT MIN(Score) FROM
   (SELECT TOP 50 PERCENT Score FROM Posts ORDER BY Score DESC) AS TopHalf)
) / 2 AS Median

Answer 5

For large scale datasets, you can try this GIST:

https://gist.github.com/chrisknoll/1b38761ce8c5016ec5b2

It works by aggregating the distinct values you would find in your set (such as ages, or year of birth, etc.), and uses SQL window functions to locate any percentile position you specify in the query.

Answer 6

Even better:

SELECT @Median = AVG(1.0 * val)
FROM
(
    SELECT o.val, rn = ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY o.val), c.c
    FROM dbo.EvenRows AS o
    CROSS JOIN (SELECT c = COUNT(*) FROM dbo.EvenRows) AS c
) AS x
WHERE rn IN ((c + 1)/2, (c + 2)/2);

From the master Himself, Itzik Ben-Gan!