DataBrighten

    Sample employee data

    1,000 × 12rows × columns in the 1,000-row file

    Updated 3 November 2026. Fictional U.S. businesses and people, generated with a fixed seed.

    CSV XLSX JSON SQL
    textnumberdateyes/no
    Largest file10,000rows; also 100 and 1,000
    Columns12with a data dictionary below
    Dates2012-01-01 – 2024-12-19range in the file
    LicenceCC0synthetic, free for any use

    What is in it

    Each row is one fictional employee: department, job title, hire date, salary, office, manager and performance rating. The first eight rows are department heads; everyone else reports to a manager_id in the file.

    First rows

    point at a column to light it up

    employee_idtextfirst_nametextlast_nametextemailtextdepartmenttextjob_titletexthire_datedatesalarynumberlocationtextmanager_idtextemployment_typetextperformance_ratingnumber
    E1001PatriciaAndersonpatricia.anderson0@example.comSalesHead of Sales2015-11-17132300AustinFull-time3
    E1002PriyaKhanpriya.khan@example.comEngineeringHead of Engineering2014-01-09222800New YorkFull-time3
    E1003ThomasRobinsonthomas.robinson@example.comMarketingHead of Marketing2013-03-14141800AtlantaFull-time4
    E1004KimberlyLopezkimberly.lopez@example.comFinanceHead of Finance2014-08-24162000New YorkFull-time3
    E1005EmmaJacksonemma.jackson@example.comHuman ResourcesHead of Human Resources2024-11-24132300AtlantaFull-time4
    E1006JosephJohnsonjoseph.johnson@example.comOperationsHead of Operations2020-03-08137700DenverFull-time4
    E1007PriyaGonzalezpriya.gonzalez@example.comCustomer SupportHead of Customer Support2022-10-27110700ChicagoFull-time3
    E1008MaryMooremary.moore7@example.comITHead of IT2013-03-14159300AustinFull-time3
    E1009EricKingeric.king@example.comMarketingContent Strategist2017-02-1888600ChicagoE1003Full-time4
    E1010SamuelAdamssamuel.adams@example.comFinanceFinance Manager2012-10-0881700AustinE1004Full-time2

    Headcount by department

    employees, 1,000-row file

    Engineering231Sales157Customer Support157Operations138Finance98Marketing92IT73Human Resources54
    Show as a table
    departmentvalue
    Engineering231
    Sales157
    Customer Support157
    Operations138
    Finance98
    Marketing92
    IT73
    Human Resources54
    Source: DataBrighten synthetic data (seed 42), computed from the file you can download here.

    Data dictionary

    ColumnTypeMeaning
    employee_idtextEmployee number
    first_nametextFictional first name
    last_nametextFictional last name
    emailtextWork email (example.com, not real)
    departmenttextOne of 8 departments
    job_titletextJob title within the department
    hire_datedateStart date (2012-2024)
    salaryintegerAnnual base salary (USD, fictional)
    locationtextOffice city
    manager_idtextemployee_id of the manager (blank for department heads)
    employment_typetextFull-time, Part-time or Contract
    performance_ratinginteger1 (low) to 5 (high)

    Practice questions

    answers checked in SQL and in Python

    How many employees are in each department?

    Engineering 231; Customer Support 157; Sales 157; Operations 138; Finance 98; Marketing 92; IT 73; Human Resources 54

    Excel

    =COUNTIF(E:E,"Engineering")

    SQL

    SELECT department, COUNT(*) AS n FROM employees GROUP BY department ORDER BY n DESC, department

    File: employees-1000

    Average salary of full-time employees by department (rounded to the dollar)?

    Engineering $121,001; Finance $89,073; IT $82,218; Marketing $77,458; Sales $75,110; Human Resources $74,481; Operations $72,040; Customer Support $67,499

    Excel

    =AVERAGEIFS(H:H,E:E,"Sales",K:K,"Full-time")

    SQL

    SELECT department, ROUND(AVG(salary)) AS avg_salary FROM employees WHERE employment_type='Full-time' GROUP BY department ORDER BY avg_salary DESC, department

    File: employees-1000

    How many people were hired in 2020 or later?

    396 employees

    Excel

    =COUNTIFS(G:G,">="&DATE(2020,1,1))

    SQL

    SELECT COUNT(*) FROM employees WHERE hire_date >= '2020-01-01'

    File: employees-1000

    What share of employees have a performance rating of 4 or 5?

    38.9%

    Excel

    =COUNTIF(L:L,">=4")/COUNTA(A2:A1001)

    SQL

    SELECT ROUND(100.0*SUM(performance_rating>=4)/COUNT(*),1) FROM employees

    File: employees-1000