Find most used data type in SQL Server database

Query below returns data types used in a database ordered by the number of their occurance.

Query

select t.name as data_type,
    count(*) as [columns],
    cast(100.0 * count(*) /
    (select count(*) from sys.tables as tab inner join
        sys.columns as col on tab.object_id = col.object_id)
            as numeric(36, 1)) as percent_columns,
      count(distinct tab.object_id) as [tables],
      cast(100.0 * count(distinct tab.object_id) /
      (select count(*) from sys.tables) as numeric(36, 1)) as percent_tables
  from sys.tables as tab
       inner join sys.columns as col
        on tab.object_id = col.object_id
       left join sys.types as t
        on col.user_type_id = t.user_type_id
group by t.name
order by count(*) desc

Columns

  • data_type - built in or user data type without length or precision, e.g. int, varchar or date
  • columns - number of columns in a database with this data type
  • percent_columns - percentage of columns with this data type. Rows add up to 100%
  • tables - number of tables in a database with this data type
  • percent_tables - percentage of tables with columns with this data type.

Rows

  • One row represents one data type
  • Scope of rows: all data types used in a database
  • Ordered by number of columns descending

Sample results

Those results show data types used in AdventureWorks database. As you can see most popular data type is int - it is used in 137 columns which is 27.9% of all columns in 62 tables (which 86.1% of all tables).