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Write a query to find the top three highest-paid employees in each department using window functions.

SQLmedium0.4 min readPremium

Frequency

Low

Asked at 2 companies

Category

487

questions in SQL

Difficulty Split

130E|271M|86H

in this category

Total Bank

1,863

across 7 categories

Asked at these companies

Bristol Myers Squibb Wipro

Key Concepts Tested

partition window

Expert AnswerPremium

89 wordsInterview-ready

**Architectural Logic:** Same pattern as ID 116—window + filter. DENSE_RANK for 'include ties'; ROW_NUMBER for exactly 3. **Query:** WITH ranked AS (SELECT employee_id, name, department, salary, DENSE_RANK() OVER (PARTITION BY department ORDER BY salary DESC) AS rn FROM employees) SELECT employee_id, name, department, salary FROM ranked WHERE rn <= 3 ORDER BY department, salary DESC....

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