MySQL / MariaDB Data Types

Most commonly used data types in MySQL and MariaDB

Numeric Data Types

Integer Types

Used for whole numbers.

Type	Size	Range (Signed)	Typical Use
TINYINT	1 byte	-128 to 127	Flags, booleans (0/1)
SMALLINT	2 bytes	-32,768 to 32,767	Small counters
MEDIUMINT	3 bytes	-8,388,608 to 8,388,607	Rarely used
INT	4 bytes	-2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647	Default integer
BIGINT	8 bytes	Very large	IDs, large counters

TIP

• UNSIGNED doubles the positive range.
• INT is the most common choice.
• BIGINT is typical for primary keys in large systems.

Floating Point Types

Used for approximate numeric values.

Type	Description	Typical Use
FLOAT	32-bit	Scientific data
DOUBLE	64-bit	Calculations needing more precision

TIP

• Not exact. Avoid for money.

Fixed-Point (Exact) Types

Used when precision matters.

Type	Description	Typical Use
DECIMAL(p,s)	Exact number with precision	Money, financial data

Example:

DECIMAL(10,2)

String (Text) Data Types

Character Types

Type	Description	Typical Use
CHAR(n)	Fixed-length string	Codes, ISO values
VARCHAR(n)	Variable-length string	Names, emails

Text Types

Type	Max Size
TINYTEXT	255 bytes
TEXT	64 KB
MEDIUMTEXT	16 MB
LONGTEXT	4 GB

Date and Time Data Types

Type	Description	Typical Use
DATE	Date only	Birthdays
TIME	Time only	Durations
DATETIME	Date and time	Events
TIMESTAMP	Unix-based datetime	Audit fields
YEAR	Year	Rare

Boolean

Type	Description
BOOLEAN / BOOL	Alias for TINYINT(1)

Binary Data Types

Type	Description
BINARY(n)	Fixed-length binary
VARBINARY(n)	Variable-length binary
BLOB	Binary large object

ENUM and SET

ENUM

ENUM('draft', 'published', 'archived')

SET

SET('read', 'write', 'execute')

JSON

Type	Description
JSON	Structured JSON data

Most Common Choices

Purpose	Recommended Type
Primary key	BIGINT / INT UNSIGNED
Text fields	VARCHAR
Long text	TEXT
Money	DECIMAL
Boolean	TINYINT(1)
Timestamps	DATETIME / TIMESTAMP
JSON data	JSON

More about data types

• MariaDB data types
• MySQL data types