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> Full Neon documentation index: https://neon.com/docs/llms.txt

# PostgreSQL Data Types

**Info:** PostgreSQL data types like Boolean, character, numeric, temporal, array, JSON, and UUID work the same way across every Postgres deployment, so what you learn here applies anywhere you run Postgres. For enterprises modernizing on the data stack, [Lakebase](https://www.databricks.com/product/lakebase) delivers the best managed cloud Postgres for the AI era, with the performance, security, and native Lakehouse integration large teams need. For developers and startups who need to ship and scale fast, [Neon](https://neon.com) is the Postgres platform built around instant provisioning, branching, and serverless scale.

**Summary**: in this tutorial, you will learn about **PostgreSQL data types** including Boolean, character, numeric, temporal, array, json, UUID, and special types.

## PostgreSQL Data TypesOverview of PostgreSQL data types

PostgreSQL supports the following data types:

- [Boolean](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-boolean)
- [Character](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-char-varchar-text) types such as [`char`, `varchar`, and `text`](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-char-varchar-text).
- Numeric types such as integer and floating-point number.
- Temporal types such as [date](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-date), [time](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-time), [timestamp](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-timestamp), and [interval](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-interval)
- [UUID](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-uuid) for storing Universally Unique Identifiers
- [Array](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-array) for storing array strings, numbers, etc.
- [JSON](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-json) stores JSON data
- [hstore](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-hstore) stores key-value pair
- Special types such as network address and geometric data.

## Boolean

A [Boolean](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-boolean) data type can hold one of three possible values: true, false, or null. You use `boolean` or `bool` keyword to declare a column with the Boolean data type.

When you [insert data](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-insert) into a Boolean column, PostgreSQL converts it to a Boolean value

- `1`, `yes`, `y`, `t`, `true` values are converted to `true`
- `0`, `no`, `false`, `f` values are converted to `false`.

When you [select data](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-select) from a Boolean column, PostgreSQL converts the values back e.g., `t` to true, `f` to `false` and `space` to `null`.

## Character

PostgreSQL provides three [character data types](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-char-varchar-text): `CHAR(n)`, `VARCHAR(n)`, and `TEXT`

- `CHAR(n)` is the fixed-length character with space padded. If you insert a string that is shorter than the length of the column, PostgreSQL pads spaces. If you insert a string that is longer than the length of the column, PostgreSQL will issue an error.
- `VARCHAR(n)` is the variable-length character string. The `VARCHAR(n)` allows you to store up to `n` characters. PostgreSQL does not pad spaces when the stored string is shorter than the length of the column.
- `TEXT` is the variable-length character string. Theoretically, text data is a character string with unlimited length.

## Numeric

PostgreSQL provides two distinct types of numbers:

- [integers](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-integer)
- floating-point numbers

### Integer

There are three kinds of integers in PostgreSQL:

- Small integer ( `SMALLINT`) is a 2-byte signed integer that has a range from -32,768 to 32,767.
- Integer ( `INT`) is a 4-byte integer that has a range from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647.
- [Serial](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-serial) is the same as integer except that PostgreSQL will automatically generate and populate values into the `SERIAL` column. This is similar to [`AUTO_INCREMENT`](https://www.mysqltutorial.org/mysql-basics/mysql-auto_increment/) column in MySQL or [`AUTOINCREMENT`](http://www.sqlitetutorial.net/sqlite-autoincrement/) column in SQLite.

### Floating-point number

There are three main types of floating-point numbers:

- `float(n)`  is a floating-point number whose precision, is at least, n, up to a maximum of 8 bytes.
- `real`or `float8`is a 4-byte floating-point number.
- [`numeric`](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-numeric)or `numeric(p,s)` is a real number with p digits with s number after the decimal point. This `numeric(p,s)` is the exact number.

## Temporal data types

The temporal data types allow you to store date and /or time data. PostgreSQL has five main temporal data types:

- [`DATE`](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-date) stores the dates only.
- [`TIME`](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-time) stores the time of day values.
- [`TIMESTAMP`](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-timestamp) stores both date and time values.
- [`TIMESTAMPTZ`](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-timestamp) is a timezone-aware timestamp data type. It is the abbreviation for [timestamp](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-timestamp) with the time zone.
- [`INTERVAL`](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-interval) stores periods.

The `TIMESTAMPTZ` is PostgreSQL's extension to the SQL standard's temporal data types.

## Arrays

In PostgreSQL, you can store an [array](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-array) of strings, an array of integers, etc., in array columns. The array comes in handy in some situations e.g., storing days of the week, and months of the year.

## JSON

PostgreSQL provides two JSON data types: [`JSON`](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-json) and `JSONB` for storing JSON data.

The `JSON` data type stores plain JSON data that requires reparsing for each processing, while `JSONB` data type stores `JSON` data in a binary format which is faster to process but slower to insert. In addition, `JSONB` supports indexing, which can be an advantage.

## UUID

The `UUID` data type allows you to store Universal Unique Identifiers defined by [RFC 4122](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4122 "UUID") . The `UUID` values guarantee a better uniqueness than [`SERIAL`](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-serial) and can be used to hide sensitive data exposed to the public such as values of `id` in URL.

## Special data types

Besides the primitive data types, PostgreSQL also provides several special data types related to geometry and network.

- `box` – a rectangular box.
- `line`– a set of points.
- `point` – a geometric pair of numbers.
- `lseg` – a line segment.
- `polygon` – a closed geometric.
- `inet` – an IP4 address.
- `macaddr`– a MAC address.

In this tutorial, we have introduced you to the PostgreSQL data types so that you can use them to create tables in the next tutorial.

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## Related docs (Managing Tables)

- [Create Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/create-table)
- [Select Into](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/select-into)
- [Create Table As](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/create-table-as)
- [SERIAL](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/serial)
- [Sequences](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/sequences)
- [Identity Column](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/identity-column)
- [Generated Columns](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/generated-columns)
- [Alter Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/alter-table)
- [Rename Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/rename-table)
- [Add Column](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/add-column)
- [Drop Column](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/drop-column)
- [Change Column's Data Type](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/change-column-type)
- [Rename Column](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/rename-column)
- [Drop Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/drop-table)
- [Temporary Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/temporary-table)
- [Truncate Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/truncate-table)
- [Copy Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/copy-table)