Ravindra BagaleCourses & study guides

8. Charts

8.9 Treemap and Sunburst

Excel 2016+. Both show hierarchies (Category › Product, City › Area) with size = value.

  • Treemap – rectangles; best to compare sizes within a hierarchy.
  • Sunburst – rings; best to show levels of a hierarchy.

Steps in Excel

  1. Arrange data with hierarchy columns first: City | Area | Sales (City repeated on each row).
  2. Select it › Insert › Charts › Insert Hierarchy Chart › Treemap (or Sunburst).
  3. Ctrl + 1 › Series Options › Label Options › Banner for parent labels (treemap).

Worked example. Treemap of sales by City › Area: Pune's block (Kothrud, Hinjewadi, Baner, Hadapsar, Wakad) is the largest; inside Nagpur, Dharampeth is bigger than Sitabuldi.

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

For a treemap, many students give a summary table (city in one row, areas beside it) – and the chart isn't created. Hierarchy charts need long format: every row has City, Area, Sales. And if there are more than 30 small boxes, the labels don't show – take the top items.

Practice task

Create a treemap of sales by Category › Product and a sunburst of orders by City › Area.