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 toMetric_A
.
- Drag
- 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]
.
- Create a calculated field for
- Replace
Metric_B
on the Columns shelf withNegative Metric_B
.
- For
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