Stacked Area Charts

Stacked Area Charts are best used to show changes in composition over time.

When to Use a Stacked Area Chart

• Use Stacked Area Charts to show how parts contribute to a whole
• When you want to track not only the total value, but also want to understand the breakdown of that total by groups
• To compare the proportions of different categories against the total value
• To show how multiple variables contribute to the total value while still showing the overall trend.

When to Avoid Using a Stacked Area Chart

• If you need an exact comparison
• If you have more than 3-5 categories
• If you want to compare how one category is overtaking another, consider using a line chart instead.

Example Use Cases for Stacked Area Charts

1. Visualizing revenue shares by product line over a period of time.
2. Show how sales in different regions contribute to total sales.

Set-up Instructions

Below are the chart settings used to create the example Bubble chart shown above. 

1. Select which fields to include in the chart: 

2. Under the "Format" tab, choose the fields to plot on the x and y axes.
In this example Quarter and Sales Territory are selected for the x-axis with each having the "Group by this field" checkbox checked, and Quarter is sorted in ascending order to be displayed from Q1-Q4, and Total Sales is selected for the y-axis: 

3. 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 Area Charts
Stepped Area Charts