SQL Server B-Tree: Index Seek on a String StackOverflow dbo.Users — nonclustered index on Location SELECT Id, Location FROM dbo.Users WHERE Location = 'Helsinki'; page reads: 1 2 3 4 Root Level 3 Intermediate Level 2 Intermediate Level 1 Leaf · keys Level 0 Root page 1:900 Aachen → 1:910 Madrid → 1:911 Seattle → 1:912 Aachen → 1:910 Intermediate page 1:910 Aachen → 1:920 Denver → 1:921 Kyoto → 1:922 Denver → 1:921 Intermediate page 1:911 Madrid → … Intermediate page 1:912 Seattle → … Intermediate page 1:920 Aachen → … Intermediate page 1:921 Denver → 1:930 Geneva → 1:931 Jakarta → 1:932 Geneva → 1:931 Intermediate page 1:922 Kyoto → … Page 1:930 Denver · Id 19,406 Dublin · Id 4,588 Frankfurt · Id 33,072 Page 1:931 Geneva · Id 41,209 Hamburg · Id 8,114 Helsinki · Id 26,837 Helsinki · Id 590,442 Houston · Id 12,006 Istanbul · Id 77,351 Page 1:932 Jakarta · Id 60,113 Johannesburg · Id 2,290 Kraków · Id 88,554