Compare and rank
Grouped / clustered bar chart
Places separate series side by side within each category for direct comparison.
- Chart
- Comparison
- Composition
What it answers
How do series compare within each category?
- Shape
- Groups of horizontal bars
- What it shows
- Within-category gaps and between-category differences.
Example: Skye Ascent Ltd
The question
Is Skye Ascent Ltd launching as many rockets as it budgeted for?
Skye Ascent Ltd launches, budget and actual, 2026
Skye Ascent Ltd is a fictional company created for Insyt.
The misleading version
Same question, drawn badly
Budget and actual stacked into one bar
What goes wrong. Budget and actual are stacked, so each bar shows budget plus actual. That total means nothing. Put them side by side.
When to use it
Use it when
Comparing a small number of series for each category.
Avoid it when
Many series create thin bars and excessive legend scanning.
How to read it
Compare adjacent bars within a group, then the same series across groups.
The data you need
- Layout
- Long table
- Fields
- Category or ordered position: text/date; Series: text; Value: number
- One row is
- One series value within one category or position. What is the grain?
- Rules
- Use one value per category-series pair after aggregation. Define category and series order.
- Optional
- Wide alternative: Category,North,South with one row per category.
- Preparation
- Validate the input grain and missing values. Use one value per category-series pair after aggregation. Define category and series order.
- Units
- Use the measured variable's stated unit consistently. No denominator is implied unless the value is a rate or proportion.
Worked example
Data A: North=30, South=45; B: North=34, South=40. Group bars by category. South leads by 15 in A and 6 in B.
| Category | Series | Value |
|---|---|---|
| A | North | 30 |
| A | South | 45 |
| B | North | 34 |
| B | South | 40 |