How to find n'th highest value of a column?

Question

Is there a command akin to:

• 2nd highest salary from tbl_salary or

• 4th highest salary from tbl_salary ?

I've seen:

select salary
from tbl_salary t
where &n = (
    select count(salary) 
    from(
        select distinct salary
        from tbl_salary
    )where t.salary<=salary
);

How does this it works?

Are there other simple ways to get result?

Answer 1

Simplest Implementation,

 (select * from tbl_salary order by salary desc limit 5) order by salary limit 1;


 (select * from tbl_salary order by salary desc limit 2) order by salary limit 1;

Answer 2

SELECT sal from emp order by sal desc limit 1,1