> ## Documentation Index
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> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

> Aggregate function that calculates the maximum across a group of values.

# max

<h2 id="max">
  max
</h2>

Introduced in: v1.1.0

Aggregate function that calculates the maximum across a group of values.

**Syntax**

```sql theme={null}
max(column)
```

**Arguments**

* `column` — Column name or expression. [`Any`](/reference/data-types)

**Returned value**

The maximum value across the group with type equal to that of the input. [`Any`](/reference/data-types)

**Examples**

**Simple max example**

```sql title=Query theme={null}
CREATE TABLE employees (name String, salary UInt32) ENGINE = Memory;
INSERT INTO employees VALUES ('Alice', 3000), ('Bob', 4000), ('Charlie', 3500);

SELECT max(salary) FROM employees;
```

```response title=Response theme={null}
┌─max(salary)─┐
│        4000 │
└─────────────┘
```

**Max with GROUP BY**

```sql title=Query theme={null}
CREATE TABLE sales (department String, revenue UInt32) ENGINE = Memory;
INSERT INTO sales VALUES ('Engineering', 100000), ('Engineering', 120000), ('Marketing', 80000), ('Marketing', 90000);

SELECT department, max(revenue) FROM sales GROUP BY department ORDER BY department;
```

```response title=Response theme={null}
┌─department──┬─max(revenue)─┐
│ Engineering │       120000 │
│ Marketing   │        90000 │
└─────────────┴──────────────┘
```

**Note about non-aggregate maximum**

```sql title=Query theme={null}
-- If you need non-aggregate function to choose a maximum of two values, see greatest():
SELECT greatest(a, b) FROM table;
```

```response title=Response theme={null}
```