Use decimal. See http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/fixed-point-types.html for more info.

But basically, 5,2 would get you 999.99, 5 being the total size of the field. So for salary I use 9,2. Also the presentation is not in the database but in your code. Assuming you are using PHP take a look at  the number_format() function: http://php.net/manual/en/function.number-format.php.

And if you want to point and click, search the exchange for "number formats". There are probably a few extensons available.

I don't understand your question. But if you need, you ahve have more then one decimal field.

No, of course not. You can't input characters into a numeric field. If you allow users to type in freeform, it will make it very difficult to create a meaningful query. If this is for salary range, I'd go what I think Stephen was suggesting; create two columns - one for min salary and one for max.

Sure, using a menu/dropdown to standardize the input is a good idea. But I still suggest two decimal fields for min and max if you are going to have users entering search criteria to find salaries within a certain range.

In my opinion this would simplify a search. How were to planning to allow a user to search for a salary range that was stored in a single column?

No, I mean what type of values are you expecting to be stored in the 'salary' database column, and what type of expression are you expected a user to enter when searching?

Let me try again. Please answer both questions:

1) What type of values will be stored in the 'salary' database column(s)?

2) What type of expression are you expected a user to enter when searching?

>so that is what people will be searching for and what will be stored

What will be stored? You are showing 3 different examples. You would store all 3 for each job?

Forget it - That concept simply won't work. First of all you can't store "+ 25000 - 30000" in a numeric database column; It's not numeric data. If you want to store salary ranges, then you need to create two columns - one for upper and one for lower.

>so thats why i suggested a dropdown to linit what goes in to the database

You can use dropdowns to control the input. But most job postings list salary ranges. You can't have a dropdown for every possible salary range combination. So if you want the job listing to include salary ranges, you must use 2 columns.

When a user is searching for a job, they would enter a desired salary and your SQL query would find any job within a matching salary range.

You can also use Spry that Stephen is suggestion to validate the data and ensure it is numeric.