Stacked Bar Charts – TrackVia

Stacked Bar Charts compares values across multiple categories by stacking bars on top of each other. Each bar represents a whole, and the segments within each bar represent the parts of that whole.

When to Use Stacked Bar Charts

Most commonly used in scenarios where you need to visualize the breakdown of a whole into its constituent parts, particularly when comparing the relative contributions of different subcategories within a larger category.
To show how different parts make up a whole. This can help you compare how each part contributes to the total.
To highlight overall trends across categories

When to Avoid Using Stacked Bar Charts

If you have many categories (10+), bar charts should be avoided as they can quickly become cluttered by too many bars.
If you need to directly compare individual components within each category, consider using multiple Non-Stacked Bar Charts instead of a Stacked Bar Chart.

Example Use Cases for Stacked Bar Charts

Breaking down the sales at different store locations across the country
Show how many of each different product type was sold each day.
Illustrating the distribution of expenses in a budget.
Show the demographic composition of a population

Set-up Instructions

Below are the chart settings used to create the example Stacked Bar Chart shown above.

1. Select the fields to include in the Chart.

2. Under the "Format" tab, select the fields to include for the X and Y axes. Note that in this example, we are showing the Preferred Method of Contact for respondents in various age groups. To accomplish this, we need to add the "Age Group" field as well as the "Preferred Form of Contact" field to the Y-axis and tick the "Group by this field" checkbox next to both fields (see red arrows below).

We also wanted to order the age groups from youngest at the bottom, and oldest at the to. To change the sort order, you can click on the Up and Down arrows to the left of the field name (see red box below) to sort it in ascending or descending order. In this example, the "Age Group" field as been sorted by descending order.

3. Under the "Customize" tab, you can edit the Chart title and labels for each axis.

4. If you want to change the colors of your chart, you can do so by navigating to the chart view, then clicking on the View Menu and selecting "Change Colors":

Related articles:
Charts Overview
Non-Stacked Bar Charts