How to compare dates in datetime fields in Postgresql?

When you compare update_date >= '2013-05-03' postgres casts values to the same type to compare values. So your '2013-05-03' was casted to '2013-05-03 00:00:00'.

So for update_date = '2013-05-03 14:45:00' your expression will be that:

'2013-05-03 14:45:00' >= '2013-05-03 00:00:00' AND '2013-05-03 14:45:00' <= '2013-05-03 00:00:00'

This is always false

To solve this problem cast update_date to date:

select * from table where update_date::date >= '2013-05-03' AND update_date::date <= '2013-05-03' -> Will return result

@Nicolai is correct about casting and why the condition is false for any data. i guess you prefer the first form because you want to avoid date manipulation on the input string, correct? you don't need to be afraid:

SELECT *
FROM table
WHERE update_date >= '2013-05-03'::date
AND update_date < ('2013-05-03'::date + '1 day'::interval);