While working as a sales analyst for a retail company, I have to create a data visualization to display different product categories and their subcategories, which contribute to overall sales.
Using Tableau, I created a Sunburst chart to visualize this data. In this chart, the inner ring represents the three main product categories: Furniture, Office Supplies, and Technology, each sized by its total sales contribution. The outer ring displayed the sub-categories within each main category, also sized proportionally to their sales.
In this Tableau tutorial, I will explain what a Sunburst chart is in Tableau and the methods to create a Sunburst chart in Tableau.
What is a Sunburst Chart in Tableau?
In Tableau, a Sunburst chart is used to display hierarchical data, which is represented by nested, layered data in a circular chart. Each layer represents part of a hierarchical data structure, with the innermost layer representing the top level.
The size of each segment within a ring or layer indicates the proportion or value it represents within that level of the hierarchy.
For example, to visualize the sales hierarchy with Category > Sub-Category > Region. The innermost layer would display the three main product categories (Furniture, Office Supplies, Technology). The next layer would break each category into its subcategories, and the outermost layer would display sales distributed across different regions.
In Tableau, we don’t have a built-in option to create a Sunburst chart. To display the Sunburst chart, we need to customize and overlap the pie charts.
Create a Sunburst Chart in Tableau
In Tableau, there are two ways to create a basic Sunburst Chart.
- Create a Sunburst chart using a dual axis in Tableau
- Create a Sunburst chart using map layers in Tableau
Create a Sunburst Chart Using a Dual Axis Pie Chart in Tableau
To create a Sunburst chart in Tableau, we will use the Superstore data. After connecting the data source with Tableau, follow the steps below.
- Select the Marks type as Pie and drag the Sub-category to the Color card. After this, add the Sales to the Angle card.
- In the rows shelf, create a calculatice field twice with value as MIN(0). With this we will have two pie charts that we will overlap in the further steps.
3. Now, in the first calculative axis, drag the Subcategory to the Details card. After this, change the card type from Detail to Color.
With this, in the first axis of the Subcategories will be colored following the color pallete of the Category pie chart color.