Does a SQL Server bit column really use a whole byte worth of space?

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 by Nate Bross

I asked this on Database Administrators:

I was poking around SSMS and noticed the “size” of my INT columns were 4 bytes (expected) but I was a bit shocked to see my BIT columns were a whole byte.

Did I misunderstand what I was looking at?

SQLRockstar answered (17 upvotes):

How many bit columns do you have defined in the table? I found this on MSDN, it says 8 or less bit columns are stored as one byte.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms177603.aspx

Originally posted on Database Administrators — 20 upvotes. Licensed under CC BY-SA.