Difference between WHERE and HAVING in SQL with example?

[suyXcode]

Hi everyone 👋

I understand that both WHERE and HAVING are used to filter data, but I’m confused about when exactly to use each one.

Can someone explain the difference between WHERE and HAVING with a simple real-world example?

Thanks in advance 🙂

[CodingwithAnkit-tech]

Good question!

The main difference is when the filtering happens.

• WHERE filters rows before grouping
• HAVING filters groups after GROUP BY

Example:

Table: sales

product	amount
Pen	10
Pen	15
Book	50
Book	60

Find products whose total sales > 50:

SELECT product, SUM(amount) AS total
FROM sales
GROUP BY product
HAVING SUM(amount) > 50;

Here, HAVING is used because SUM(amount) is calculated after grouping.

If we used WHERE:
SELECT * FROM sales WHERE amount > 50;

This filters individual rows, not grouped results.

So:

• Use WHERE for row-level filtering
• Use HAVING for aggregate filtering