--- title: "varPopStable" slug: "/en/sql-reference/aggregate-functions/reference/varpopstable" sidebar_position: 211 --- ## varPopStable Returns the population variance. Unlike [`varPop`](../reference/varpop.md), this function uses a [numerically stable](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_stability) algorithm. It works slower but provides a lower computational error. **Syntax** ```sql varPopStable(x) ``` Alias: `VAR_POP_STABLE`. **Parameters** - `x`: Population of values to find the population variance of. [(U)Int*](../../data-types/int-uint.md), [Float*](../../data-types/float.md), [Decimal*](../../data-types/decimal.md). **Returned value** - Returns the population variance of `x`. [Float64](../../data-types/float.md). **Example** Query: ```sql DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test_data; CREATE TABLE test_data ( x UInt8, ) ENGINE = Memory; INSERT INTO test_data VALUES (3),(3),(3),(4),(4),(5),(5),(7),(11),(15); SELECT varPopStable(x) AS var_pop_stable FROM test_data; ``` Result: ```response ┌─var_pop_stable─┐ │ 14.4 │ └────────────────┘ ```