Butterfly Chart in Tableau

What is a Butterfly Chart?

Butterfly Chart is also referred as Tornado Chart or Diverging Bar Chart is the type of visualization which shows two sets of data side-by-side, usually for direct comparison of two categories.

Why to use Butterfly Chart?

Population pyramids, gender comparisons, or anything that requires a direct side-by-side comparison are some of the common applications of the butterfly chart. This chart has two sides which are reflections of each other, hence its name, Butterfly.

How to Create a Butterfly Chart in Tableau:

• Step 1: Prepare Your Data:
  • Ensure your data is structured appropriately. For this example, let’s assume you have a dataset with the following columns:
  • Category: The category to compare (e.g., age group, product type)
  • Metric_A: The metric for the first category (e.g., Male population, Sales in Region A)
  • Metric_B: The metric for the second category (e.g., Female population, Sales in Region B)

• Step 2: Load Data into Tableau

• Step 3: Create the Basic Structure
  • Drag Category to the Rows shelf.
  • Drag Metric_A to the Columns shelf.
  • Drag Metric_B to the Columns shelf, placing it next to Metric_A.

• Step 4: Adjust Axis and Alignment
  • For Metric_B, you need to make the values negative to mirror them on the left side.
    • Create a calculated field for Metric_B:
    • Right-click in the Data pane, select “Create Calculated Field.”
    • Name it Negative Metric_B and use the formula -[Metric_B].
  • Replace Metric_B on the Columns shelf with Negative Metric_B.