Which Chart Should I Use?
Every dataset has one chart that tells its story clearly — and a dozen that muddle it. Answer a few plain-English questions about what you're showing and the kind of data you have, and get the right chart: a live thumbnail, when to use it, and the classic mistake to sidestep.
A starting point, not a rule. The best chart depends on your data and your audience. When in doubt, show the data — a scatter or box plot reveals more than a bar of means — and always label your axes and start bar counts at zero. For the theory, see Visualizing Data; for putting them in a report honestly, Tables & Figures That Don't Lie.
The whole map on one screen
Prefer to scan? The same map as a table: goal and data type in, chart out.
| Your goal | Data type | Reach for |
|---|---|---|
| See one variable's shape | One quantitative | Histogram |
| Compare center & spread across groups | Quantitative × categorical | Box plot(s) |
| Compare one value per category | Quantitative × categorical (few) | Bar chart |
| Rank many categories / long labels | Quantitative × categorical (many) | Horizontal bar chart |
| Compare across two categorical splits | Quantitative × two categorical | Grouped / stacked bar |
| See how two numbers relate | Two quantitative | Scatter plot |
| Summarize or predict a relationship | Two quantitative | Scatter + trend line |
| Show change over time | Quantitative × time | Line chart |
| Show association of two categories | Two categorical | Heatmap / mosaic |
| Show parts of a whole | Categorical proportions | Stacked bar (not a pie) |
| Let readers read exact values | Any | Table |