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How to Make Unit-Based, Variable Width Bar Charts

In a cross between unit charts and variable width bar charts, we can show total counts and relative proportions at the same time.

To show income sources for different groups and people, I wanted to show a percentage breakdown between wages, business, and investments, but also show the total amounts.

A while back I showed how people spend their money using a mosaic plot followed by unit charts, so I figured I’d just combine the two, and this is what I got, which shows average income sources by income group.

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About the Author

Nathan Yau is a statistician who works primarily with visualization. He earned his PhD in statistics from UCLA, is the author of two best-selling books — Data Points and Visualize This — and runs FlowingData. Introvert. Likes food. Likes beer.