Chart Types

There are four broad types of stories that can be told with the collection of charts in this guide and should cover most of your data visualization needs: Comparison, Transition, Composition and Relationship & Distribution.

Which type of chart should I use?

Comparison of Data

To compare categories by magnitude, provide rankings of these items, and to compare quantities of categories over time, use vertical and horizontal bar charts:

Bar Chart

Bar charts compare values of categorical data against one measure or variable.

Transition of Data

To apply time-based data to understand the trend of change, use line charts. If you’re interested in visualizing composition over time, consider using an area chart.

Line Chart

Line charts are used to show how the measure or value of something changes over time, or another continuous variable.

Area Chart

Area charts express how a volume of data changes over time or another continuous variable.

Composition of Data

To visualize part to whole relationships, use pie charts, donut charts and stacked bar charts.

Circular Chart

Circular charts consist of segments that represent each category's contribution to display parts of a whole.

Bar Chart

Bar charts compare values of categorical data against one measure or variable.

Relationship & Distribution

To look at the relationships between many categories based on two or more measures, use scatter or bubble plots.

Scatter Plot

A scatter plot shows the relationship between two sets of data.

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