How to Make a Hex Map in Tableau

Ever tried to show state-by-state sales data on a map and noticed that Texas and California completely overshadow smaller but equally important states like Delaware or Rhode Island? You're not alone. This article will show you how to solve that common data visualization problem by building a hex map in Tableau. We'll cover why they're so useful and provide a step-by-step guide to creating your own from scratch.

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What is a Hex Map, and Why Should You Use One?

A standard map (often called a choropleth map) is great for showing geographical location, but it can be misleading when you're trying to compare data between regions. Its primary weakness is that the size of a region on the map dictates its visual importance. Alaska, for example, might look like a massive part of your dataset, even if its actual contribution (like sales or website traffic) is tiny.

A hex map, or hexagonal tile map, fixes this by representing each geographic area (like a state or country) with a uniformly sized hexagon. These hexagons are then arranged in a way that roughly approximates their real-world location. This gives every state equal visual weight, letting your data - not the geography - tell the story.

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When to Use a Hex Map:

• Election Results: So each state's electoral votes can be seen clearly regardless of its physical size.
• State-by-State Performance: To compare metrics like sales, leads, or user sign-ups without being biased by larger states.
• Density Visualizations: To show the prevalence of a certain metric in a region without geographical distortion.

Getting Started: What You'll Need

Building a hex map in Tableau isn't an out-of-the-box feature, so it requires a little setup. Don't worry, it's straightforward. Here's what you need:

• Tableau Desktop: Any recent version will work.
• Your Data: A spreadsheet or data file that includes the states (or regions) and the metric you want to measure. For our example, we'll use a simple sales report with columns for "State" and "Sales."
• A Hex Map Layout File: This is the key component. It's a simple spreadsheet that maps each state to a specific "Row" and "Column" coordinate, creating the honeycomb layout. You don't have to create this yourself, you can download a template online. A popular one is available from Tableau Public and many data viz bloggers.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Hex Map in Tableau

Once you have your files ready, it's time to start building. We'll join our data to the layout file and use the coordinates to place our hexagons in Tableau.

Step 1: Get to Know Your Hex Layout File

Before you even open Tableau, open the hex map layout file you downloaded. It typically contains three crucial columns:

• State (or State Abbreviation): The geographic identifier. This is the column we will use to join with your own data.
• Column: A number that dictates the horizontal position of the hexagon.
• Row: A number that dictates the vertical position of the hexagon.

Make sure the state names or abbreviations in this file match the ones in your data file exactly. A mismatch like "New York" in one file and "NY" in another will prevent the join from working correctly.

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Step 2: Connect to Your Data and Create the Join

Now, let's head into Tableau. The first step is to connect our two data sources: your performance data and the hex layout file.

1. Open Tableau and connect to your primary data source (e.g., your Excel file with sales figures). Drag your data sheet onto the canvas.
2. Next, click "Add" to connect to a new data source. Select the hex map layout file.
3. Drag the sheet from your layout file onto the canvas next to your data. Tableau will automatically try to create a relationship or join.
4. Click on the join noodle (the connecting line) to configure it. We need to create an Inner Join.
5. For the join condition, select the field that contains the state name or abbreviation from both data sources. For example, join on State = State Name.

An inner join ensures that only states present in both files will appear in our visualization. Now you have a single data source ready for worksheet building that contains your metrics plus the crucial 'Row' and 'Column' coordinates.

Step 3: Build the Hexagon Grid

With our data prepared, we can now move to a worksheet and start building the visual structure of our map.

1. Navigate to a new worksheet in Tableau.
2. Drag the "Column" field from your data pane to the Columns Shelf.
3. Drag the "Row" field to the Rows Shelf.
4. You'll notice Tableau defaults to treating these as measures (showing SUM or AVG). We need to change that. Right-click on the "Column" pill in the Columns Shelf and select "Dimension." Do the same for the "Row" pill.
5. You should now see a grid of points. This doesn't look like a hex map yet, but we're close!

Step 4: Turn Your Grid into Hexagons and Add Data

This is where the magic happens. We'll change the mark type and add our actual performance data.

1. In the Marks Card, change the dropdown menu from "Automatic" to "Shape."
2. Your grid will change into a grid of open circles. We need to replace these circles with hexagons.
3. Click on the Shape button in the Marks Card. In the dialog box that appears, click the "Shape Palette" dropdown and find a palette with a filled-in hexagon. If you don't have one, you might need to add one to your "Shapes" folder in your Tableau Repository. For now, a filled circle will work just fine as a placeholder to prove the concept.
4. Click "Apply." You should now see a grid of shapes approximating the layout of the United States.
5. Now, let's color our hexagons based on your data. Find your performance metric (e.g., "Sales") in the data pane and drag it onto the Color button in the Marks Card.
6. Voilà! Your hex map should light up with a color gradient representing your sales performance in each state.

Step 5: Finesse and Final Touches

Your map is functionally complete, but a few tweaks can make it much easier to read and understand.

Add Labels

• Drag the "State" field to the Label button on the Marks Card. This will put the name of each state inside its hexagon. You might need to adjust the font size and color to make it legible.

Enhance the Tooltip

• Hover over a state. The default tooltip is okay, but you can make it better. Click on the Tooltip button in the Marks Card. Here, you can edit the text to be more descriptive. For example, you could change it to read: "Sales in [State Name]: [SUM(Sales)]". This provides clear context when a user interacts with your dashboard.

Adjust Sizing

• Use the Size slider on the Marks Card to make the hexagons larger so that they are closer together, creating a more cohesive honeycomb effect.

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Final Thoughts

By transforming geographic areas into uniform shapes, a hex map in Tableau levels the visual playing field and directs audience focus to the actual data. Learning to build custom, insightful visualizations like this is a powerful skill, but as you've seen, it involves preparing special layout files and navigating a multi-step process within a complex tool.

While mastering traditional BI tools is invaluable, we created Graphed because we believe getting insights shouldn't require such a steep learning curve. We've automated away the manual setup and complex UI. Instead of joining files and dragging pills, you just connect your sales and marketing sources (like Shopify or HubSpot) in a few clicks and ask questions in plain English, like "Show me a map of sales by state this quarter," and a live dashboard is instantly created for you. Our goal is to give you back the time you'd spend wrangling data so you can focus on acting on it.