MIN() – Find the Smallest Value in SQL

🔧 Quick Syntax

SELECT MIN(column_name)
FROM table_name;

This tells SQL:

“Go through this column and tell me the smallest value you can find.”

It works with numbers, dates, even text (alphabetically).

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🧾 Here’s the Table You’re Working With

Your table is called orders:

order_id	customer_name	total_amount
1	Fenn Rask	10.00
2	Milo Kresh	45.00
3	Sora Dune	15.99
4	Lexa Vohn	72.50
5	Tovi Glint	29.99

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✅ Suppose You Want to Find the Lowest Order Amount

SELECT MIN(total_amount)
FROM orders;

💡 Output:

10.00

SQL checked every value in the total_amount column and gave you the smallest one.

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✅ MIN() Also Works with Dates

If your table had a created_at or order_date column, you could find the earliest date like this:

SELECT MIN(order_date)
FROM orders;

This would return the oldest date in the column.

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✅ Suppose You Want the Lowest Total from Orders Over $30

SELECT MIN(total_amount)
FROM orders
WHERE total_amount > 30;

💡 Output:

45.00

SQL looked at only the rows where total_amount is over 30, and gave you the lowest from that group.

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🧃 Recap – What You Learned

• MIN() gives you the smallest value in a column
• Works with numbers, dates, and text
• Ignores NULL values
• Use WHERE to find the min in a filtered subset
• Great for finding lowest totals, first events, earliest times, etc.