In this video I will provide a method in which you can place your bar chart labels above the bars in Tableau. This technique is based off Adolfo Hernandez’s technique with a little more explanation and additional alternatives for the zero line. Make sure to add this to your bar chart repertoire!

If you want to follow-along with the video, you can download the data at this link:

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2021.html

In the video I exported data from the “Per Game Stats” section but you are free to download from whichever stats section you’d prefer.

High Level Steps:

Make sure to watch the video to get more in-depth:

1. Drag your measure to columns (e.g., 3P)
2. Drag your dimension to Rows (e.g., Team)
3. Sort the measure to descending value
4. Place the Team and 3P on the label and format accordingly
5. Create a placeholder directly on the Columns shelf : AVG(0))
6. Drag the placeholder to the bottom of the visual onto the 3P axis to make a combined axis visual
7. In the Measure Value area make sure that AGG(AVG(0)) is placed above SUM(3P)
8. Uncheck “Show Headers” for the Team dimension and for the axis at the bottom of the visual
9. Format the visual to remove unnecessary borders and lines
10. Make the following adjustments on the Label:
    1. Marks to Label: Min/Max
    2. Scope: Pane
    3. Field: Measure Values
    4. Options:
       1. Allow Labels to Overlap Other Mark
       2. Label Minimum Value
11. Change the color of the bar chart borders to the background color of your visual in order to camouflage the tiny bar created by AVG(0)
12. Uncheck “Show Header” for AVG(0)

When it’s all said and done you have a fresh new take on adding labels to your bar chart that can add differentiation to your overall visual!

For more detail on how to add a zero line (which I believe is important for bar charts in general and is a good design practice), watch the video.

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All views and opinions are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer

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