Salient sampling for query size estimation includes identifying two or more columns in a database table that have corresponding columns in one or more other tables. One or more hash functions are applied to domains of each of the identified columns. A first hash function is applied to a domain of the first column and a second hash function to a domain of the second column. A subset of the rows in the database table is selected. The selecting includes selecting rows in the database table where results of the first hash function meet a first numeric threshold and selecting rows in the database table where results of the second hash function meet a second numeric threshold. A sample database table corresponding to the database table is created. The sample database table includes the selected subset of the rows in the database table.