This page is a quick reference checkpoint for RANK in IBM DB2: behavior, syntax rules, edge cases, and a minimal example; plus the official vendor documentation.
RANK assigns a ranking number to each row, giving equal values the same rank and leaving gaps after ties.
Returns the rank of the current row within its partition based on the ORDER BY clause; tied rows receive the same rank and the next rank value is incremented by the number of tied rows.
If this behavior feels unintuitive, the tutorial below explains the underlying pattern step-by-step.
Requires ORDER BY in the OLAP specification; assigns the same rank to ties and leaves gaps after ties.
SELECT RANK() OVER (PARTITION BY dept ORDER BY salary) AS rnk FROM employees
If you came here to confirm syntax, you’re done. If you came here to get better at window functions, choose your next step.
RANK is part of a bigger window-function pattern. If you want the “why”, start here: Ranking Functions
Reading docs is useful. Writing the query correctly under pressure is the skill.
For the authoritative spec, use the vendor docs. This page is the fast “sanity check”.
View IBM DB2 Documentation →Looking for more functions across all SQL dialects? Visit the full SQL Dialects & Window Functions Documentation.