SQL Tip: Use CASE Statements for Categorizing Data

Learning Exchange
1

A CASE statement is SQL’s way of handling if/then logic.

It allows you to create custom labels or segments in a new column based on conditions in existing columns.

In this example, we’ll categorize customers based on their total spending.

SELECT
    CustomerID,
    TotalSpending,
    CASE
        WHEN TotalSpending > 1000 THEN 'High Value'
        WHEN TotalSpending > 500 AND TotalSpending <= 1000 THEN 'Medium Value'
        ELSE 'Low Value'
    END as CustomerSegment
FROM CustomerSummary;

You can create tiers for customers, categorize products, or flag at-risk accounts, all directly within your query.

It turns raw data into categories… simple as that.

Do you use CASE statements in SQL already?