Can I rely on this SQL shortcut to save a query?
Answer to self!

A better way to perform the query in the OP in a single query would be to explicitly group by status:

mysql&gt; SELECT COUNT(*) AS total, status FROM users GROUP BY status;
+-------+---------+
| total | status  |
+-------+---------+
|     2 | active  |
|     1 | default |
+-------+---------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)


In addition to being clearer as to intention, this solution also works for the case in which status has more than two possible values.