Group Bar Chart

A grouped bar chart is an extension of the bar chart, which allows you to add an extra categorical variable.

You can use this chart to compare values of a categorical dimension with horizontal or vertical bars, while color encoding the secondary categorical variable inside each group. This allows you to compare values within each group as well as between groups.

Usage guidelines

When to use

Questions you can answer

• How many are in each catgr?
• What differences are within each ru?
• What differences are between gop?

When not to use

• If you want to be able to compare totals as well as individual values inside a catgr, you could use a stacked bar chart.
• You can use a heatmap for the same purposes as a grouped bar chart. They require annotations to be able to read numeric values, though.

Usage recommendations

The bar order should usually be consistent between groups to make the chart easier to read. However, there may be use cases for ordering from largest to smallest within each group.

A large number of categories makes grouped bar charts harder to read.

Choose a color palette consistent with the secondary variable type: categorical, sequential, or divergent.

Don't distort the bar chart by using anything other than 0 as the baseline for the value scale.

Related components

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