range lower bound must be less than or equal to range upper bound

SQLSTATE 22000 condition data_exception class 22 — Data Exception severity ERROR

Reproduced & verified on PostgreSQL 14.23, 15.18, 16.14, 17.10 and 18.4 — identical message on every version.

Last reviewed 30 May 2025 · Reproduced live with the SQL on this page.

Symptoms

A range value was constructed with a lower bound greater than its upper bound. PostgreSQL raises SQLSTATE 22000 (data_exception).

The lower bound exceeds the upper bound.
Ranges require lower ≤ upper.
Common with reversed arguments to a range constructor.

What the server log shows

ERROR:  range lower bound must be less than or equal to range upper bound

Why PostgreSQL raises this — what the manual says

As Section 8.17 Range Types explains:

A range’s lower bound must not be greater than its upper bound; supplying a lower value that exceeds the upper value is invalid (an empty range is written as the literal ’empty’, not by inverting the bounds).

A non-empty range requires lower ≤ upper. Supplying a lower bound greater than the upper makes no valid interval, so PostgreSQL reports 22000.

Common causes

Reversed arguments to a range constructor (e.g. int4range(10, 1)).
Computed bounds that ended up out of order.
Off-by-one logic producing an inverted interval.

How to fix it

Pass bounds in order: int4range(1, 10).
Normalize/sort the bounds before constructing the range.
Use an empty range form when you intend no values.

Related & next steps

Reference: PostgreSQL 18 Section 8.17 “Range Types”.