How to Create a Histogram

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When to Use a Histogram

• You have a numeric column (e.g., price, age, quantity, score) and want to see how many rows fall into each range (bin).
• You want a count (or similar aggregate) per bin, not individual values.

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Option 1: Histogram Chart Type

1. Create or edit a metric.
2. Select Histogram as the chart type.
3. Add a numeric dimension (the column you want to bin, e.g., order_amount).
4. Add a measure (e.g., Count).
5. The product may automatically create bins from the numeric dimension.

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Option 2: Bar Chart with Numeric Dimension

1. Create a binned column in your dataset using SQL:
   Copy

   SELECT
     FLOOR(order_amount / 50) * 50 AS price_bucket,
     COUNT(*) AS order_count
   FROM orders
   GROUP BY price_bucket
   ORDER BY price_bucket
   
   This creates buckets of 50 (e.g., 0-49, 50-99, 100-149).
2. Use the binned column (e.g., price_bucket) as the X-axis dimension.
3. Use the count as the Y-axis measure.
4. Select Bar chart as the visualization type.

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Why “Count + Bar” Might Not Look Like a Histogram

• No dimension added: If you only add a count measure without a dimension, you get a single bar. Add a dimension that represents the bins.
• Non-numeric dimension: If your dimension is categorical (not numeric), the chart shows categories instead of ranges. Use a numeric column or create bins in SQL.
• Group By has no options: Ensure your metric has at least one dimension and one measure. Some aggregation choices (e.g., window functions like PERCENTILE_CONT) do not collapse rows into groups and may leave Group By empty.

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Summary