How to Create a Dual Axis Map in Tableau

Layering multiple data points on a single map can transform a simple geographic report into a powerful analytical tool. By combining two different views, you can compare measures and uncover hidden relationships, like which high-sales territories are suffering from low-profit margins. This article will walk you through a step-by-step process to create a dual-axis map in Tableau, a technique that places two types of map layers on a single canvas.

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What is a Dual-Axis Map?

Think of a dual-axis map as stacking two transparent maps on top of each other. Each map layer can visualize a different measure using different marks. One layer might be a filled map, where states or countries are colored based on a measure like sales revenue. The second layer could be a symbol map placed on top, showing circles over each state, with the size of the circles determined by a second measure like profit.

This technique is incredibly useful because it allows you to visualize the relationship between two different metrics across the same geographic dimensions. Instead of flipping between two separate maps, you can see at a glance:

• Territories with high sales but low profit.
• Regions with a high population but a low number of customers.
• Countries with significant website traffic but poor conversion rates.

Seeing both metrics together provides context that one measure alone cannot. A state colored dark green for high sales looks great, but if it also has a tiny, negatively-colored circle on it showing massive profit losses, you have a much more complete and actionable story.

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Prepare Your Data for Mapping

Before you jump into Tableau, make sure your data is structured for geographic analysis. Tableau is smart, but it needs a clear geographic field to hook onto. This usually means having a dedicated column in your dataset for location data.

Tableau can automatically recognize common geographic identifiers, including:

• Country
• State / Province
• City
• County
• ZIP Code / Postcode
• Airport codes

For a dual-axis map showing sales and profit by state, your data should look something like this:

State, Sales, Profit California, 457687, 76381 New York, 310876, 74038 Texas, 170188, -25729 Washington, 138641, 33402 Pennsylvania, 116511, -15559

Assigning a Geographic Role

When you connect your data to Tableau, your geographic field should have a small globe icon next to it in the Data pane. This indicates Tableau has correctly identified it as a location field.

If it doesn't have a globe icon (and has an "Abc" or "#" icon instead), you need to assign the role manually. It's a simple fix:

1. Right-click the field in the Data pane (e.g., your 'State' field).
2. Hover over Geographic Role.
3. Select the appropriate role from the list (e.g., State/Province).

With your data correctly formatted and recognized, you're ready to start building the map.

How to Create a Dual-Axis Map: A Step-by-Step Guide

We'll use the classic example of visualizing sales and profit by state. Our goal is to create a filled map where the color intensity represents sales, and then layer circles on top where the size represents profit.

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Step 1: Create the First Map Layer (The Filled Map)

The first step is to create our base layer, which will color each state based on its total sales.

1. Drag your geographic dimension (e.g., State) from the Data pane onto the main canvas. Tableau will likely plot points representing each state.
2. In the Marks card, click the dropdown menu and change the type from Automatic to Map. This will instantly transform the dots into filled shapes for each state.
3. Next, drag your primary measure (e.g., Sales) onto the Color property in the Marks card.

You now have your first layer: a filled map where states with higher sales are darker. You can click on the 'Color' legend to edit the color palette to your liking.

Step 2: Add the Second Data Layer (The Symbol Map)

Now we’ll create the second Tableau map view in the same worksheet, which we'll later combine into our primary dual-axis view.

1. This is the key trick: hold down Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) and drag the Latitude (generated) pill from the Rows shelf right beside itself on the same shelf. As you drag, a small plus '+' sign should appear, indicating you are duplicating the pill.
2. When you release, you'll have two identical maps, one stacked above the other. You’ll also notice that there are now two tabs in the Marks card section, one for each map (labeled Latitude (generated) and Latitude (generated) (2)). Each tab controls the corresponding map’s properties independently.
3. Click on the second Marks card tab - the one for the bottom map - to activate it.
4. Change its Mark Type from Map to Circle. The filled map in the bottom view will become a series of circles centered in each state or region of whatever our primary geographic area we're plotting.
5. Drag your second measure (e.g., Profit) onto the Size property on this second Marks card. The circles will now change in size relative to the profit value. Larger circles mean more profit.

At this point, you have two separate maps in one view: a filled map showing sales and a circle map showing profit. The final step is to merge them.

Step 3: Combine with a Dual Axis

Now, we fuse the two map layers together:

1. On the Rows shelf, right-click the second Latitude (generated) pill.
2. Select Dual Axis from the menu.

That's it! Tableau will overlay the circle map directly on top of the filled map. You now have a dual-axis map that intelligently visualizes both sales and profit in one concise view.

Tips for Refining Your Dual-Axis Map

Your map is functional, but a few quick adjustments can make it much more insightful and easier to read.

Adjust Transparency and Borders

The circles on top may obscure the color of the states underneath. To fix this, adjust their transparency.

• Select the Marks card for your circle layer.
• Click the Color button.
• Move the Opacity slider to a level like 60-70%.
• You can also add a subtle border (from the same Color menu) around the circles and/or the filled states to make them more distinct.

Use a Diverging Color Palette for Profit

Profit can be positive or negative. A standard color scale doesn't communicate losses effectively. It's often better to drag Profit to the Color property on the circle layer Marks card (in addition to having it on Size).

Then, click Color > Edit Colors and select a diverging palette, like Red-Green Diverging or Orange-Blue Diverging. Set the center to 0. Now, profitable states might be blue, while unprofitable states will be red, giving an immediate visual cue for performance issues while the size still indicates magnitude.

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Clean Up Your Tooltips

The default tooltip will show all the data points, which can be messy. Give it a clean-up.

• Click on the Tooltip property in either Marks card.
• Edit the text to create a more readable summary. You can remove redundant latitude/longitude data and format the text to tell a clearer story, such as:

State: <State> Total Sales: $<SUM(Sales)> Total Profit: $<SUM(Profit)>

Creating a clean, concise tooltip significantly improves the user experience for anyone interacting with your dashboard.

Final Thoughts

Creating dual-axis maps in Tableau is an effective way to layer two different measures onto a single visualization, turning a simple map into a rich narrative about regional performance. This technique helps you compare metrics directly, revealing valuable insights that would be difficult to spot by looking at separate reports.

While building visuals like this in Tableau gives you fine-tuned control, it also requires navigating menus and understanding the logic of the tool itself. That’s why we created Graphed, which lets you achieve the same results by simply asking for them in plain English. Instead of thinking in steps and clicks, you can ask for the final output, like "Create a US map colored by sales with circles sized by profit for each state," and let our AI analyst instantly build it from your live data sources. Spend less time wrestling with settings and more time discovering insights with Graphed.