TABLEAU MAPS

Mapping Concepts in Tableau

• If you want to analyze your data geographically, you can plot your
data on a map in Tableau.
• This topic explains why and when you should put your data on a map
visualization.
• It also describes some of the types of maps you can create in Tableau,
and how to create each one.
Why put your data on a map?
• There are many reasons to put your data on a map.
• Perhaps you have some location data in your data source?
• Or maybe you think a map could really make your data pop?
• Both of those are good enough reasons to create a map visualization, but it’s important to keep in mind that
maps, like any other type of visualization, serve a particular purpose: they answer spatial questions.
• You make a map in Tableau because you have a spatial question, and you need to use a map to understand
the trends or patterns in your data.
• But what is a spatial question?
• Some examples might be:
• Which state has the most farmers markets?
• Where are the regions in the U.S. with the high obesity rates?
• Which metro station is the busiest for each metro line in my city?
• Where did the storms move over time?
• Where are people checking out and returning bikes from their local bike share program?
• All of these are spatial questions. However, is a map the best way to answer them?
When should you use a map to represent your
data?
• If you have a spatial question, a map view might be a great way to
answer it. However, that might not always be the case.
• Take for example, the first question from the list above:
 Which state has the most farmers markets?
• If you had a data source with a list of farmers markets per state, you
might create a map view like the one below.
• Can you easily tell which state has the most farmers markets?
When should you use a map to represent your
data?
When should you use a map to represent your
data?
• What if you create a bar
chart instead?
• Now is it easy to spot the
state with the most farmers
markets?
When should you use a map to represent
your data?
• The above example is one of many where a different type of visualization
would be better to answer a spatial question than a map.
• So when do you know if you should use a map view?
• One rule of thumb is to ask yourself whether or not you could answer your
question faster, or easier with another visualization.
• If the answer is yes, then perhaps a map view is not the best visualization
for the data you’re using.
• If the answer is no, then take the following into account:
• Maps that answer questions well have both appropriate data
representation, and attractive data representation. In other words: the
data is not misleading, and the map is appealing.
When should you use a map to represent
your data?
• If your map is beautiful, but the data is misleading, or not very
insightful, you run the risk of people misinterpreting your data.
• That’s why it’s important to create maps that represent your data
accurately, as well as attractively.
What types of maps can you build in Tableau?

• Simple Maps
• Proportional symbol maps
• Choropleth maps (filled maps)
• Point distribution maps
• Heatmaps (density maps)
• Flow maps (path maps)
• Spider maps (origin-destination maps)
Build a Simple Map

• You can build several different types of maps for your geographic
analysis in Tableau.

• Prerequisites: To build a simple map, your data source must contain

location data (location names, or latitude and longitude coordinates).
Build a simple point map

• Navigate to a worksheet.
• In the Data pane, under
Dimensions, double-
click State.
• A map view is automatically
created because the State
field is a geographic field.
Build a simple point map
• From Measures, drag Sales to Size on
the Marks card.
• The data points on the map update to
show the amount of sales
proportionally.
• Select Maps > Map Layers.
• In the Map Layers pane, do the
following:
• Click the Style drop-down and
select Normal.
• Under Map Layers,
clear Country/Region Names.
• The background map updates with the
new settings.
Build a simple point map
Build a simple filled (polygon) map

• Navigate to a new worksheet.

• In the Data pane, under Dimensions,
double-click State.
• A map view is automatically created.
• On the Marks card, click the Mark Type
drop-down and select Map.
• The map view updates to a filled (polygon)
map
Build a simple filled (polygon) map

• From Dimensions,
drag Sales to Color on
the Marks card.
• The polygons on the map
update to show the
amount of sales using
color.
Proportional symbol maps
• Proportional symbol maps are great for showing quantitative values
for individual locations.
• They can show one or two quantitative values per location (one value
encoded with size, and, if necessary, another encoded with color).
• For example, you can plot earthquakes recorded between 1981 to
2014 around the world, and size them by magnitude.
• You can also color the data points by magnitude for additional visual
detail.
Your data source

• To create a proportional symbol map, your data source should include

the following types of information:
• Quantitative values
• Latitude and Longitude coordinates or location names (if recognized
by Tableau)
• It's also recommended that your data contain a large variation of
values, otherwise your symbols will appear approximately the same
size in the view.
Your data source

• The following table is a snippet of the Earthquake data source, which

is included in the Create Proportional Symbol Maps in Tableau
Example Workbook on Tableau Public.
• It contains columns for earthquake magnitude and magnitude to the
power of ten, and columns for latitude and longitude vales.
• It also contains a column for the date and earthquake ID for added
clarity and organization.
Basic map building blocks
Columns shelf: Longitude (continuous measure, longitude
geographic role assigned)

Rows shelf: Latitude (continuous measure, latitude

geographic role assigned)

Detail: One or more dimensions

Size: Measure (aggregated)

Mark type: Automatic

Build the map view

• To follow along with this example, download the Create Proportional

Symbol Maps in Tableau Example Workbook from Tableau Public, and open
it in Tableau Desktop.
• Open a new worksheet.
• In the Data pane, under Measures, double-click Latitude and Longitude.
• Latitude is added to the Rows shelf, and Longitude is added to the Columns
shelf. A map view with one data point is created.
• From Dimensions, drag ID to Detail on the Marks card. If a warning dialog
appears, click Add all members.
• A lower level of detail is added to the view.
Build the map view
 Build the map view
• From Measures,
drag Magnitude^10 to Size on the Marks
card.
• Note that the Magnitude^10 field is used
to encode size, instead of the Magnitude
field.
• This is because Magnitude^10 contains a
wider range of values, so the differences
between values can be seen visually.
• You now have a proportional symbol
map.
• The larger data points represent
earthquakes with larger magnitudes, and
the smaller data points represent
earthquakes with smaller magnitudes.
Build the map view
• In most cases, this is as far as you need to go to show quantitative values for single locations.
However, in this case, since there are so many data points in the view, more visual detail is
needed to help you differentiate between the earthquake magnitudes, and to help you spot any
trends.
• From Measures, drag Magnitude to Color on the Marks card.
• On the Marks card, click Color > Edit Colors.
• In the Edit Colors dialog box, do the following:
• Click the color drop-down and select the Orange-Blue Diverging palette from the list.
• Select Stepped Color, and then enter 8.
• This creates eight colors: four shades of orange, and four shades of blue.
• Select Reversed.
• This reverses the palette so that orange represents a higher magnitude than blue.
• Click Advanced, select Center, and then enter 7.
• This shifts the color palette and ensures that any earthquake over 7.0 magnitude will appear
orange in color, and any earthquake under 7.0 magnitude will appear blue in color.
• Click OK.
Build the map view
• On the Marks card, click Color again,
and then do the following:
• For Opacity, enter 70%.
• Under Effects, click the Border drop-down
menu and select a dark blue border color.
• The map view updates with new colors.
• The dark orange data points represent
earthquakes with higher magnitudes,
while the dark blue data points
represent earthquakes with lower
magnitudes.
• The opacity of the marks is at 70% so
you can see where the data points
overlap.
Build the map view
• On the Marks card, right-click
the ID field and select Sort.
• In the Sort dialog box, do the following:
• For Sort Order, select Descending.
• For Sort By, select Field, and then click the
drop-down and select Magnitude.
• Click OK.
• This sorts the data points in the view so
that the larger magnitudes appear on
top.
• Your proportional symbol map is now
complete.
Point distribution maps
• Point distribution maps
are great for showing
the how locations of
your data points are
distributed.
Your data source

• To create a point distribution map, your data source should include

the following types of information:
• Latitude and longitude coordinates for all of your locations
• For example, the following table is a snippet of the Hail data source,
which is included in the Create Point Distribution Maps in Tableau
Example Workbook on Tableau Public.
• It contains columns for the latitude and longitude coordinates of hail
storms across the United States from 1955 to the 2013.
Basic map building blocks

Columns shelf: Longitude (continuous dimension,

longitude geographic role
assigned)

Rows shelf: Latitude (continuous dimension,

latitude geographic role assigned)

Mark type: Automatic

Build the map view

• To follow along with this example, download the Create Point Distribution
Maps in Tableau Example Workbook from Tableau Public, and open it in
Tableau Desktop.
• Open a new worksheet.
• Ensure that the Latitude geographic role is assigned to your latitude field,
and the Longitude geographic role is assigned to your longitude field.
• In the Data pane, double-click Latitude and Longitude to add them to the
view.
• The Latitude and Longitude fields are added to the Columns and Rows
shelves, and a map view with one data point is created.
Build the map view
Build the map view
• On the Columns shelf, right-click Longitude and
select Dimension.
• On the Rows shelf, right-click Latitude and
select Dimension.
• The map view updates with every location in
your data source.
• On the Marks card, click Size, and then move the
slider to the left.
• Your point distribution map is now complete.
• A data point for every location in your data
source is now plotted on the map (minus any you
filtered from the view).
• You can now see that a majority of hailstorms
occur in the eastern half of the United States.
Choropleth maps
• Choropleth maps are best for showing ratio or aggregated data for
polygons.
• These polygons can be counties, regions, states, or any area or region
that can be geocoded in Tableau.
• They can even be custom territories created in Tableau
Your data source

• To create a choropleth map, your data source should include the

following types of information:
• Quantitative or qualitative values.
• Location names (if recognized by Tableau), or custom polygons.
Basic map building blocks
Columns shelf: Longitude (continuous measure, longitude
geographic role assigned)

Rows shelf: Latitude (continuous measure, latitude

geographic role assigned)

Detail: One or more geographic units (dimensions with

geographic roles assigned)

Color: Measure or dimension

Mark type: Automatic or Map

Build the map view
• To follow along with this example, download
the Create Choropleth Maps in Tableau Example
Workbook from Tableau Public, and open it in
Tableau Desktop.
• Open a new worksheet.
• In the Data pane, under Dimensions, state_Obesity,
double-click State.
• State is added to Detail on the Marks card and
Longitude and Latitude are added to the Columns
and Rows shelves. A map view is created with a
data point for each state in your data source.
• In the map view, select the Alaska and Hawaii data
points, and then click Exclude on the tooltip that
appears.
Build the map view

• On the Marks card, click the plus icon on the State field to drill down to the
County level of detail.
• There is now a data point for every county in your data source.
• From Measures, under countyObesity, drag Percent-2012 to Color on the
Marks card.
• The map view changes to a filled map mark type and the polygons are
colored green.
• Note that the default aggregation for the Percent-2012 measure is SUM by
default.
• On the Marks card, right-click the Percent-2012 field and select Attribute.
• Since the data in this field is already a percentage, it does not make sense
to aggregate it as a sum.
Build the map view

• On the Marks card, click Color and select Edit

Colors.
• In the Edit Color dialog box, click the color
drop-down, select Orange, and then click OK.
• On the Marks card, click Color and then, under
Effects, click the Border drop-down and
select None.
• Your choropleth map is now complete. There
is an obesity percentage for each polygon
(county) on the map view.
Build the map view
Note about color distribution
• The distribution you specify for the color of the polygons highly affects how
people interpret your data. For example, the map you created used the Tableau
default color distribution.
• Color was distributed evenly across all values.
• However, if you decide to distribute the values across five colors (stepped color, in
Tableau), the map view might change.
• Or maybe you want to see quartiles. Then your map might look like in next slide
• Notice how the high obesity rates in the South are more visible when you use
quartiles?
• The color distribution you choose depends on the information you're trying to
show.
• For example, if you wanted to show that obesity rates are higher in the South,
you might choose the quartile example.
• However, if you want to show that obesity rates are high in the United States in
general, you might choose the first example, which distributed color evenly.
• Neither map is right or wrong; they just tell different stories
Note about color distribution
Flow maps
• Flow maps are great for when you want to show where something
went over time, such as the path of a storm.
• This topic illustrates how to create a flow map using an example.
• Follow the example to learn how to set up your data source, and build
the view for a flow map.
Your data source

• To create a flow map, your data source should include the following
types of information:
• Latitude and longitude coordinates for each data point in a path
• A column to define the order to connect the points (this can be date
information, or manually applied numbers, such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• A unique ID for each path
• Enough data points to shape each path into a line
Basic map building blocks
Columns shelf: Longitude (continuous measure,
longitude geographic role assigned)

Rows shelf: Latitude (continuous measure, latitude

geographic role assigned)

Detail: Dimension (unique ID for each path)

Path: Date field or order field to define order to

connect the data points

Mark type: Line

Build the map view

• To follow along with this example, download the Create Flow Maps in
Tableau Example Workbook from Tableau Public, and open it in Tableau
Desktop.
• Open a new worksheet.
• In the Data pane, under Measures, double-click Latitude and Longitude.
• The Latitude and Longitude fields are added to the Columns and Rows
shelves, and a map view with one data point is created.
• From Dimensions, drag Storm Name to Detail on the Marks card.
• The map view updates with a data point for every storm in the data source.
In the next steps, you will narrow the storms down to only those that
occurred in the western Pacific Ocean in 2012.
• From Dimensions, drag Date to the Filters shelf.
Build the map view

• In the Filter Field [Date] dialog box that appears, select Years, and
then click Next.
• In the Filter [Year of Date] dialog box that appears, click 2012, and
then click OK.
• The map view updates to show only the storms that occurred in 2012.
• From Dimensions, drag Basin to the Filters shelf.
• In the Filter Field [Basin] dialog box that appears, select West Pacific,
and then click OK.
• The map view updates to show only storms that occurred in the
western part of the Pacific Ocean.
Build the map view
Build the map view
• On the Marks card, click the mark-type drop-down and select Line.
• A Path button appears on the Marks card, and the map view updates with
a line connecting every data point.
• From Dimensions, drag Date to Path on the Marks card.
• The line disappears. This is because the Date field is set to discrete years.
Since the date field in the Storm data source includes day, month, year, and
time, this is not the correct level of detail for this field.
• On the Marks card, right-click the YEAR(Date) field and select Exact Date.
• Now the map view updates with a data point for every recorded date and
time. You can now see the individual paths of each storm.
•
Build the map view
Build the map view
• From Measures, drag Wind Speed to Size on the Marks card.
• The map view updates to show the varying wind speeds along each storm
path.
• On the Marks card, right-click the SUM(Wind Speed) field and
select Measure > Average.
• From Dimensions, drag Storm Name to Color on the Marks card.
• Each storm path is assigned a color and the flow map is now complete.
• You can now see the paths for every recorded storm that occurred in the
West Pacific basin in 2012.
• You can also see at what point in their path their wind speeds were
strongest.
Build the map view
Create Heatmaps that Show Trends or Density in
Tableau
• You can create maps in Tableau to reveal the patterns or relative
concentrations that might otherwise be hidden due to an overlapping
mark on a map.
• These types of maps are called heatmaps, or density map.
• Tableau creates a heatmap by grouping overlaying marks, and color-
coding them based on the number of marks in the group.
• Density maps help you identify locations withhow greater or fewer
numbers of data points.
• Density maps are most effective when working with a data set
containing many data points in a small geographic area.
Your data source

• To create a density map, your data source should:

• Latitude and Longitude coordinates or location names (if recognized by
Tableau)
• Tableau can recognize location names and create a density map using the
point locations assigned to Tableau geocoding locations, but density maps
are most effective when the location data is very precise, such as location
coordinates in a limited space.
• Density marks work best where the specific locations change continuously
and smoothly across space, rather than values constrained to discrete
locations like borough or neighborhood.
Basic map building blocks
Columns shelf: Longitude (continuous dimension, longitude
geographic role assigned)

Rows shelf: Latitude (continuous dimension, latitude

geographic role assigned)

Detail: One or more fields with many underlying data

points

Mark type: Density

Build the map view

• You can choose “Density” from the mark type drop-down and Tableau
will compute a density surface on your view.
• The density surface that appears recomputes as you zoom or filter
data on the remaining marks.
• When using Pages or a small multiples view, the Density is computed
across the full domain of the data for comparative analysis.
• To follow along with this example, download the Create Heatmaps in
Tableau Example Workbook (click Download in the upper right hand
corner), and open it in Tableau Desktop.
Build the map view

• Open a new worksheet. In this data source, these

fields are named Pickup Latitude and Pickup
Longitude. Ensure that the Pickup Latitude
geographic role is assigned to your latitude field,
an the Pickup Longitude geographic role is
assigned to your longitude field.
• In the Data pane, double-click Pickup Latitude
and Pickup Longitude to bring them to the view.
• The Latitude and Longitude fields are added to
the Columns and Rows shelves, and a map view
with one data point is created.
Build the map view

• Now, let’s add distinct marks to the view.

Select ID and place it on the Details mark.
Because each pickup has its own ID, this
breaks up the mark and distinguishes one
pickup from another on our map.
• There will be a warning letting you know
that the field added may contain more
than the recommended maximum of 1000.
Select Add all members.
• The map view updates to show marks for
every pickup location in your data source.
Since every location is within Manhattan,
the map will zoom to focus on Manhattan
in New York City.
Build the map view

• On the Marks card, change the mark

type to density by selecting the drop-
down menu to the right of Automatic
and select Density.
• Your basic density map is created.
• You can see that midtown is the most
popular area for taxi pickups in
October, although you can adjust the
focus further by using the zoom tool.
• Density will recompute as you zoom in
or out.
Adjust the appearance

• Color: Adjusting the colors of

your density map by
selecting Color from the Marks
card. Choose from ten density
color palettes, or any of the
existing color palettes.
• Intensity: In the Color menu, use
the Intensity slider to increase or
decrease the vividness of your
map. For example, increasing
density lowers the "max heat"
spots in your data, so that more
appear.
Low Intensity (50%) High Intensity (80%)
Adjust the appearance

• Size: You can use the Size shelf to adjust the size of the density marks.
Clicking on the Size mark will show the size slider. Adjusting the slider
will apply a size increase or decrease to the size of the marks group
that makes your heatmap.
• Underlying marks): You can select an individual data point from
anywhere in your density map. These marks have size (10 pixels) and
color (blue) applied by default. Size and color are not adjustable for
underlying marks.
• Zoom: Selection, tooltips, labels, and hovering all work based on the
marks in the zoom of the view. Density maps have no fixed or
constant display and will always recompute as you zoom.
•
Create Filled Maps with Pie Charts in Tableau

• The pie mark type can be useful to show simple proportions to a

relative whole.
• For example, pie marks might be effective when you want to show
the percentage of profit for a product by geographic location.
• In this example, the pie mark type is used with the filled maps mark
type to show the percentage of profit for office supplies, furniture,
and technology, relative to the total profits by state.
• It uses the Sample-Superstore data source that comes with Tableau
Desktop
Build the map view

• In Tableau, open a new workbook and connect to

the Sample-Superstore data source.
• On the Data Source page, click Sheet 1 to go to a
new worksheet.
• In the Data pane, under Dimensions, double-
click State.
• Tableau creates a symbol map, with a data point for
each state in the Sample-Superstore data source.
• On the Marks card, click the Mark-type drop-down
and select the Map mark type.
Build the map view

• From Measures, drag Profit to Color on the

Marks card.
• From Measures, drag Latitude (generated) to
the Rows shelf, and place it to the right of the
other Latitude field.
• You should now have two identical map views.
• In the Rows shelf, right-click the
second Latitude field and select Dual Axis.
• The second map is now layered on top of the
first map. There are now three drop-downs on
the Marks card: one for each map view, and one
for both views (all). These are three separate
marks cards that you can use to control the
visual detail for each of the map view
Build the map view

• On the Marks card, click one of the Latitude (generated) tabs, and
then click the Mark type drop-down and select the Pie mark type.
• From Measures, drag Sales to Size on the Latitude (generated) Marks
card you selected.
• The Sum of sales for each state is shown as text.
• From Dimensions, drag Category to Color on the same Marks card.
• If the size of the pie charts is too small, click Size on the Marks card to
adjust the size.
Build the map view

• The map view now shows the sum of profit, as well as the sum of sales
for each category, for each state.
Spider maps
• You can create maps in Tableau Desktop that show paths between origins
and destinations.
• These types of maps are called spider maps, or origin-destination maps.
• Spider maps are great for when you’re working with hubs that connect to
many surrounding points.
• They are an excellent way to show the path between an origin and one or
more destination locations.
• There are several ways to create spider maps in Tableau. This topic
illustrates how to create a spider map using two examples.
• Follow the examples below to learn how to set up your data source, and
build the view for two different spider maps.
Example 1: Metro station traffic in Paris, France

• Your data source

• To create this type of spider map in Tableau, your data source should
include the following information:
• A path ID for every unique path. See The Line Group (Path ID)
column below for more information.
• Numbers to define the drawing order of each data point (location). See The
Order of Points column below for more information.
• Latitude and longitude coordinates for every location. See the example
table below.
• It's also recommended that your data source contain a column with your
location names, but it is not required.
Basic map building blocks
Columns shelf: Longitude (continuous measure, longitude
geographic role assigned)

Rows shelf: Latitude (continuous measure, latitude

geographic role assigned)

Detail: Path ID field (discrete dimension)

Path: Order field (continuous dimension)

Mark type: Line

Build the map view

• To follow along with this example, download the Create Spider Maps in
Tableau Example 1 Workbook from Tableau Public, and open it in Tableau
Desktop.
• In the Create Spider Maps in Tableau Example Workbook, click the New
Worksheet icon.
• In the new worksheet, from Measures, drag Longitude to
the Columns shelf, and Latitude to the Rows shelf.
• From Dimensions, drag Line Group (Path ID) to Detail on the Marks card.
• On the Marks card, click the Mark Type drop-down and select Line.
• The map view updates with a line connecting all of the points. The Path
button should appear on the Marks card.
Build the map view
Build the map view

• From Measures, drag Point

Order to Path on the Marks
card.
• Point Order is aggregated as a
sum.
• On the Marks card, right-click
the SUM(Point Order) field
and select Dimension.
• The map view updates with a
line for every metro line.
Build the map view

• From Dimensions, drag Line Group (Path ID) to Color on

the Marks card.
• Each line now has its own color associated with it, and a
color legend is added to the view.
• From Measures, drag Longitude to the Columns shelf and
place it to the right of the first Longitude field.
• There are now two Longitude fields on the columns shelf.
• The view updates with two identical maps. The Marks
card updates with two tabs: one for the map on the left,
and one for the map on the right. You can customize each
of these tabs to change the visual detail of each map view.
• There is an All tab to control the visual detail in both maps
at the same time.
Build the map view

• On the Marks card, click the

bottom AVG(Longitude) tab.
• On the Marks card, under the bottom
AVG (Longitude) tab, click the Mark
type drop-down and select Automatic.
• The map view on the right updates to
be a point map.
• On the Columns shelf, right-click the
second AVG (Longitude) field (on the
right), and select Dual Axis.
• Your map views are now layered on
top of one another.
Build the map view

• From Measures, drag Traffic to Size, on the bottom AVG (Longitude)

Marks card.
• The size of the data points update to show the amount of traffic per
station.
• On the Marks card, click Size and move the slider to the right.
• On the Marks card, click Color, and then, under Effects, click
the Border drop-down and select a color.
• The view is now complete. You can quickly find the stations on each
metro line with the most traffic.
Build the map view
Filter the amount of information in the view

• If you want to filter the

amount of lines you see in
the view:
• From Dimensions, drag Line
Group to the Filters shelf.
• You can also right-click
the Line Group field and
select Show Filter, to show a
filter card in the view.