Find Nth Maximum value

"How do I find Nth maximum value?" is one of the most asked questions

Here are some methods 

I explain how to find 5th Maximum value

01.declare  @number table(num integer) 

02. 

03.Insert into @number values(3456)

04.Insert into @number values(846)

05.Insert into @number values(1456)

06.Insert into @number values(3098)

07.Insert into @number values(34)

08.Insert into @number values(67856)

09.Insert into @number values(906)

10.Insert into @number values(34656)

11.Insert into @number values(9056)

12.Insert into @number values(3036)

(1) Use Inner Join

1.select t1.num from @number t1 inner join @number t2 on t1.num<=t2.num

2.group by t1.num having count(t1.num)=5

(2) Use Top Operator

1.Select top 1 num from

2.(

3.Select top 5 num from @number order by num desc

4.) T

5.order by num asc

(3) Generate Serial No based on descending order of the

1.select num from

2.(

3.Select (select count(*) from @number where num>=T.num)as Sno ,num

4.from @number as T

5.) as temp

6.where Sno=5

(4) Generate Serial No based on descending order of the values in where Clause

1.select num from @number as n

2.where (select count(*) from @number where num>=n.num)=5

(5) Use Aggregate

1.Select min(num) from (select top 5 num from @number order by num desc) T

(6) Use Row_number() function

1.select num from

2.(

3.select num, row_number() over (order by num desc) as sno from @number

4.) as t

5.where sno=5

6. 

7.Now you can replace 5 to the number that you want to find the maximum value

General SQL query should be as follows

select sal from emp a where N = (select count(distinct sal) from emp b where a.sal <= b.sal) where N = any value.