MongoDB $gte Operator

What You’ll Learn

The $gte operator checks whether one value is greater than or equal to another. Use it in $match to filter documents at or above a threshold, or in expression stages like $project and $cond to compare fields and get a true/false result.

Definition and Usage

In MongoDB, the $gte operator tests whether one value is greater than or equal to another. In a $match stage, { age: { $gte: 21 } } filters documents where age is 21 or higher. In an aggregation expression, { $gte: [ "$score", 70 ] } returns true or false for each document. It pairs naturally with $lte for range queries and with $gt when you need to exclude the boundary value.

📝 Syntax

$gte has two forms depending on where you use it:

Query form (in $match or find filters)

{ field: { $gte: <value> } }

Aggregation expression form (in $project, $cond, etc.)

{ $gte: [ <expression1>, <expression2> ] }

Syntax Rules

• Query form — filters documents where the field is greater than or equal to the given value.
• Expression form — compares two expressions and returns true or false.
• Includes equals — a value exactly equal to the threshold matches.
• Works with numbers, dates, and strings (BSON comparison order).
• Use expression form inside $project, $addFields, $cond, and $filter.

Examples Gallery

Walk through sample student data, filter by minimum age with $match, and compare fields with the expression form.

[
  { "_id": ObjectId("609c26812e9274a86871bc6a"), "name": "Alice", "age": 22 },
  { "_id": ObjectId("609c26812e9274a86871bc6b"), "name": "Bob", "age": 20 },
  { "_id": ObjectId("609c26812e9274a86871bc6c"), "name": "Charlie", "age": 25 }
]

db.students.aggregate([
  {
    $match: {
      age: { $gte: 21 }
    }
  }
])

{ "_id": ObjectId("609c26812e9274a86871bc6a"), "name": "Alice", "age": 22 }
{ "_id": ObjectId("609c26812e9274a86871bc6c"), "name": "Charlie", "age": 25 }

db.orders.find({
  quantity: { $gte: 10 }
})

// quantity: 15  → included
// quantity: 10  → included (equals threshold)
// quantity: 8   → excluded

db.students.aggregate([
  {
    $project: {
      name: 1,
      score: 1,
      passed: {
        $gte: [ "$score", 70 ]
      }
    }
  }
])

// score: 85 → passed: true
// score: 70 → passed: true
// score: 62 → passed: false

db.students.aggregate([
  {
    $project: {
      name: 1,
      age: 1,
      category: {
        $cond: [
          { $gte: [ "$age", 18 ] },
          "Adult",
          "Minor"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
])

🚀 Use Cases

• Age filtering — find people at or above a minimum age like 18 or 21.
• Date comparison — select records on or after a specific date with { createdAt: { $gte: date } }.
• Quantity analysis — identify inventory or orders meeting a minimum threshold.
• Passing grades — use in $cond when the boundary score should count as passing.

💡 Best Practices