如果这是MySQL，现在有窗口函数，你可以这样做(假设你想四舍五入到最接近的整数-否则只需将round替换为CEIL或FLOOR或其他什么)。下面的解决方案适用于表，无论表的行数是偶数还是奇数:

WITH CTE AS (
    SELECT val,
            ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY val ASC) AS rn,
            COUNT(*) OVER () AS total_count
    FROM data
)
SELECT ROUND(AVG(val)) AS median
FROM CTE
WHERE
    rn BETWEEN
    total_count / 2.0 AND
    total_count / 2.0 + 1;

I think some of the more recent answers on this thread were already getting at this approach, but it also seemed like people were overthinking it, so consider this an improved version. Regardless of SQL flavor, there is no reason anyone should be writing a huge paragraph of code with multiple subqueries just to get the median in 2021. However, please note that the above query only works if you're asked to find the median for a continuous series. Of course, regardless of row number, sometimes people do make a distinction between what is referred to as the Discrete Median and what is referred to as the Interpolated Median for a continuous series.

如果你被要求为一个离散级数找到中位数，而表的行数是偶数，那么上面的解决方案就不适合你，你应该恢复使用其他解决方案之一，比如TheJacobTaylor的。

下面的第二个解决方案是对TheJacobTaylor的稍微修改的版本，其中我显式地声明了CROSS JOIN。这个方法也适用于行数为奇数的表，不管你是被要求求连续序列的中位数还是离散序列的中位数，但我特别会在被要求求离散序列的中位数时使用这个方法。否则，使用第一种解决方案。这样，您就永远不必考虑数据是包含“偶数”还是“奇数”个数的数据点。

SELECT x.val AS median
FROM data x
CROSS JOIN data y
GROUP BY x.val
HAVING SUM(SIGN(1 - SIGN(y.val - x.val))) = (COUNT(*) + 1) / 2;

最后，你可以在PostgreSQL中使用内置函数轻松做到这一点。这里有一个很好的解释，以及关于离散中位数和插值中位数的有效总结。

https://leafo.net/guides/postgresql-calculating-percentile.html#calculating-the-median

基于@bob的回答，这将查询泛化为能够返回多个中位数，并按某些标准分组。

想想，例如，一个车场二手车的中位数销售价格，按年-月分组。

SELECT 
    period, 
    AVG(middle_values) AS 'median' 
FROM (
    SELECT t1.sale_price AS 'middle_values', t1.row_num, t1.period, t2.count
    FROM (
        SELECT 
            @last_period:=@period AS 'last_period',
            @period:=DATE_FORMAT(sale_date, '%Y-%m') AS 'period',
            IF (@period<>@last_period, @row:=1, @row:=@row+1) as `row_num`, 
            x.sale_price
          FROM listings AS x, (SELECT @row:=0) AS r
          WHERE 1
            -- where criteria goes here
          ORDER BY DATE_FORMAT(sale_date, '%Y%m'), x.sale_price
        ) AS t1
    LEFT JOIN (  
          SELECT COUNT(*) as 'count', DATE_FORMAT(sale_date, '%Y-%m') AS 'period'
          FROM listings x
          WHERE 1
            -- same where criteria goes here
          GROUP BY DATE_FORMAT(sale_date, '%Y%m')
        ) AS t2
        ON t1.period = t2.period
    ) AS t3
WHERE 
    row_num >= (count/2) 
    AND row_num <= ((count/2) + 1)
GROUP BY t3.period
ORDER BY t3.period;

你也可以选择在存储过程中这样做:

DROP PROCEDURE IF EXISTS median;
DELIMITER //
CREATE PROCEDURE median (table_name VARCHAR(255), column_name VARCHAR(255), where_clause VARCHAR(255))
BEGIN
  -- Set default parameters
  IF where_clause IS NULL OR where_clause = '' THEN
    SET where_clause = 1;
  END IF;

  -- Prepare statement
  SET @sql = CONCAT(
    "SELECT AVG(middle_values) AS 'median' FROM (
      SELECT t1.", column_name, " AS 'middle_values' FROM
        (
          SELECT @row:=@row+1 as `row`, x.", column_name, "
          FROM ", table_name," AS x, (SELECT @row:=0) AS r
          WHERE ", where_clause, " ORDER BY x.", column_name, "
        ) AS t1,
        (
          SELECT COUNT(*) as 'count'
          FROM ", table_name, " x
          WHERE ", where_clause, "
        ) AS t2
        -- the following condition will return 1 record for odd number sets, or 2 records for even number sets.
        WHERE t1.row >= t2.count/2
          AND t1.row <= ((t2.count/2)+1)) AS t3
    ");

  -- Execute statement
  PREPARE stmt FROM @sql;
  EXECUTE stmt;
END//
DELIMITER ;


-- Sample usage:
-- median(table_name, column_name, where_condition);
CALL median('products', 'price', NULL);

ORACLE的简单解决方案:

SELECT ROUND(MEDIAN(Lat_N), 4) FROM Station;

简单的解决方案，理解MySQL:

select case MOD(count(lat_n),2) 
when 1 then (select round(S.LAT_N,4) from station S where (select count(Lat_N) from station where Lat_N < S.LAT_N ) = (select count(Lat_N) from station where Lat_N > S.LAT_N))
else (select round(AVG(S.LAT_N),4) from station S where 1 = (select count(Lat_N) from station where Lat_N < S.LAT_N ) - (select count(Lat_N) from station where Lat_N > S.LAT_N))
end from station;

解释

STATION是表名。LAT_N是具有数值的列名

假设站表中有101条记录(奇数)。这意味着如果表以asc或desc排序，则中位数是第51条记录。

In above query for every S.LAT_N of S table I am creating two tables. One for number of LAT_N values less than S.LAT_N and another for number of LAT_N values greater than S.LAT_N. Later I am comparing these two tables and if they are matched then I am selecting that S.LAT_N value. When I check for 51st records there are 50 values less than 51st record and there 50 records greater than 51st record. As you see, there are 50 records in both tables. So this is our answer. For every other record there are different number of records in two tables created for comparison. So, only 51st record meets the condition.

现在假设站表中有100条记录(偶数)。这意味着如果表以asc或desc排序，则中位数是第50条和第51条记录的平均值。

Same as odd logic I am creating two tables. One for number of LAT_N values less than S.LAT_N and another for number of LAT_N values greater than S.LAT_N. Later I am comparing these two tables and if their difference is equal to 1 then I am selecting that S.LAT_N value and find the average. When I check for 50th records there are 49 values less than 50th record and there 51 records greater than 50th record. As you see, there is difference of 1 record in both tables. So this(50th record) is our 1st record for average. Similarly, When I check for 51st records there are 50 values less than 51st record and there 49 records greater than 51st record. As you see, there is difference of 1 record in both tables. So this(51st record) is our 2nd record for average. For every other record there are different number of records in two tables created for comparison. So, only 50th and 51st records meet the condition.

你可以使用这里的用户定义函数。

因为我只需要一个中位数和百分位数的解决方案，我根据这个线程中的发现做了一个简单而相当灵活的函数。我知道，如果我发现“现成的”功能很容易包含在我的项目中，我自己会很高兴，所以我决定快速分享:

function mysql_percentile($table, $column, $where, $percentile = 0.5) {

    $sql = "
            SELECT `t1`.`".$column."` as `percentile` FROM (
            SELECT @rownum:=@rownum+1 as `row_number`, `d`.`".$column."`
              FROM `".$table."` `d`,  (SELECT @rownum:=0) `r`
              ".$where."
              ORDER BY `d`.`".$column."`
            ) as `t1`, 
            (
              SELECT count(*) as `total_rows`
              FROM `".$table."` `d`
              ".$where."
            ) as `t2`
            WHERE 1
            AND `t1`.`row_number`=floor(`total_rows` * ".$percentile.")+1;
        ";

    $result = sql($sql, 1);

    if (!empty($result)) {
        return $result['percentile'];       
    } else {
        return 0;
    }

}

使用非常简单，例子来自我目前的项目:

...
$table = DBPRE."zip_".$slug;
$column = 'seconds';
$where = "WHERE `reached` = '1' AND `time` >= '".$start_time."'";

    $reaching['median'] = mysql_percentile($table, $column, $where, 0.5);
    $reaching['percentile25'] = mysql_percentile($table, $column, $where, 0.25);
    $reaching['percentile75'] = mysql_percentile($table, $column, $where, 0.75);
...