How to Create a Histogram in Tableau

A histogram is one of the most useful charts for understanding your data, showing you how your numbers are spread out and where they tend to cluster. This article walks you through exactly how to create a histogram in Tableau, covering both the quick automatic method and the manual approach that gives you more control.

What Is a Histogram, Anyway?

Before building one, it’s helpful to know what it actually does. A histogram takes a continuous set of numbers (like sales amounts, customer ages, or website session durations) and groups them into equal-sized ranges, called bins. It then displays these bins as bars, with the height of each bar showing how many data points fall into that specific range.

Imagine you have a list of 1,000 different customer orders. It’s impossible to spot any patterns by looking at a raw list of sales figures. A histogram solves this by grouping them. For example, it might show you that 150 orders were between $0-$50, 300 orders were between $51-$100, 250 were between $101-$150, and so on. Instantly, you can see that the most frequent order value is in the $51-$100 range.

Histogram vs. Bar Chart: What's the Difference?

This is a common point of confusion. While they look similar, they serve different purposes:

• A bar chart compares distinct, separate categories. For example, you’d use a bar chart to compare the sales figures for different product categories like 'Furniture', 'Office Supplies', and 'Technology'.
• A histogram visualizes the frequency distribution of a single continuous numerical variable. The bars in a histogram represent ranges of that number (e.g., sales from $0-$100), not separate categories. Because the ranges are continuous, a true histogram has no gaps between the bars.

Think of it this way: a bar chart compares "apples vs. oranges," while a histogram shows you the different sizes of all your "apples."

How to Create a Histogram in Tableau (The Easy Way)

Tableau makes it incredibly simple to create a basic histogram using its "Show Me" feature. This is the perfect starting point if you need a quick overview of your data's distribution.

For this example, we’ll use the Sample - Superstore data and a measure like 'Sales'.

Step 1: Select Your Measure

In the Data pane on the left, find and click on the measure you want to analyze. It’s important to select just one single measure. Let's click on Sales.

Step 2: Use the "Show Me" Panel

In the top-right corner of the Tableau workspace, click on the Show Me button. A panel will appear with various chart types.

Tableau will highlight the charts that are possible to create with your current data selection. One of these will be the histogram. Click on it.

Step 3: Voilà! You Have a Histogram

Tableau instantly creates the histogram for you. It automatically performs two key actions:

1. It creates a new "bin" field from your selected measure (e.g., 'Sales (bin)') and places it on the Columns shelf.
2. It creates a count of that same measure and places it on the Rows shelf.

The resulting chart shows you the ranges of sales values along the bottom (x-axis) and how many orders fall into each of those ranges on the side (y-axis).

How to Create a Histogram Manually (For More Control)

The "Show Me" method is fast, but it doesn't give you much say in how the data is grouped. Creating a histogram manually allows you to define the bin size yourself, which is crucial for getting the right level of detail in your analysis. The process revolves around creating your own bins first, then building the chart.

Step 1: Create the Bins

Bins are the heart of a histogram. Deciding their size is the most important step.

1. In the Data pane, find the measure you want to work with (e.g., Sales). Right-click on it.
2. From the context menu, navigate to Create > Bins...
3. An 'Edit Bins' dialog box will open. Here, Tableau suggests a 'Size of bins' for you. You can either use this suggestion or, for more control, enter your own value.

For example, if you want to group your sales data into ranges of $100, you would type 100 into the Size of bins field. Naming your field is also good practice. Once you change the Size of bins value, click OK.

You will now see a new field in your Data pane under 'Dimensions', named Sales (bin) (or whatever you named it). Tableau treats this group of ranges as a Dimension, because it's a way of categorizing your data.

Step 2: Build the View

Now that you have your custom bins, you can use them to build your histogram worksheet.

1. Drag your newly created bin dimension (Sales (bin)) from the Data pane onto the Columns shelf.
2. Next, you need to decide what you want to count. Typically, with sales data, you would count the number of orders or records. A common approach is to drag the same base measure (e.g., Sales) onto the Rows shelf.
3. By default, Tableau will likely aggregate this as a sum (SUM(Sales)). You need to change this aggregation to a count (CNT(Sales)). Click on the pill on the Rows shelf and change the aggregation from Sum to Measure 'Count'.

The result is a histogram where you controlled the exact range of each bucket, giving you a more tailored view of your data's distribution.

Customizing and Refining Your Histogram

Once you’ve built your histogram, you can refine it to make your insights even clearer.

Adjusting the Bin Size Dynamically

The bin size you choose has a big impact on what you can see. Think of it like a microscope's focus knob:

• Too large: If bins are too wide (e.g., $1,000 range for sales), your chart will have only a few bars, hiding important details within those large buckets.
• Too small: If bins are too narrow (e.g., $1 range), your chart could have hundreds of tiny bars, which creates a lot of noise and makes it hard to see the overall shape of the distribution.

The best way to find the right size is to experiment. You don't have to keep creating a new bin dimension. In Tableau, you can easily right-click your existing Sales (bin) dimension in the Data pane and select Edit... to open up the bin size settings dialog box again and test different values.

Adding Context and Formatting

Give your chart context by adding reference lines or color-coding your views.

• Add a Reference Line: Drag 'Average Line' from the Analytics pane onto your view to show how your data is distributed relative to the mean. This can instantly reveal if the distribution is skewed.
• Adjust the Color: If your histogram has gaps due to low frequency or missing records, you can add your measure to the color Marks card (e.g., CNT(Sales)) to highlight data clustering on your chart.
• Adjust Axis Titles and Labels: To make the chart easier to read, add labels. Dragging CNT(Sales) onto the Labels Mark card will place the count on the bar charts. Then you can double-click the axes titles to make them more descriptive, such as changing "Sales (bins)" to "Sales Bucket Size."

Final Thoughts

There you have it - a complete guide to creating histograms in Tableau. Whether you use the quick "Show Me" option or take a more hands-on approach by creating your own bins, you now have a powerful way to look beneath the surface of your data and understand its distribution.

Building these charts manually is a fantastic way to learn the tools, but when you're busy running marketing campaigns or sales teams, the process of configuring bins and building views for every question can still be time-consuming. At Graphed, we simplify this even further. Instead of clicking through menus, you can just ask in plain language, "Show me a histogram of our Shopify order values for the last month." We connect directly to your data sources and create the interactive dashboards and charts for you in seconds, turning hours of tedious reporting into a simple conversation to let you focus on actionable insights.