How to Create Combination Charts in Tableau

Putting different chart types together on one canvas, known as a combination chart, is a fantastic way to compare measures that have vastly different scales. It allows you to see the relationship between, for example, massive revenue figures and a sensitive profit margin percentage side-by-side. This article will walk you through exactly how to build a combination chart in Tableau using the dual-axis feature, turning two separate data stories into one powerful visual.

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What is a Combination Chart?

A combination chart, or combo chart, is a single visualization that uses multiple mark types to represent different sets of data. The most common type is a chart displaying bars and a line together. For instance, you might use bars to show the total sales for each month and overlay a line to show the average transaction value over the same period.

This technique is incredibly useful for a few key reasons, but the main one is comparing two measures with different units or scales. If you tried to plot Sales (in the millions of dollars) and Profit Ratio (a single-digit percentage) on the same axis, the profit ratio line would look completely flat and be squished at the bottom, making it impossible to read. Combination charts solve this by introducing a second axis - a "dual axis" - so each measure gets its own scale.

Common use cases include:

• Tracking sales volume (bars) against a marketing spend target (line).
• Comparing website traffic (bars) with the conversion rate (line).
• Showing monthly revenue (bars) and customer growth rate (line).

Why Use a Combination Chart in Tableau?

While looking at two separate charts can work, merging them into a single combination chart offers several distinct advantages that are central to good data storytelling.

1. Provides Richer Context

The biggest benefit is the immediate context. By placing two related metrics on the same view, you allow your audience to see the relationship between them instantly. Did a spike in sales also lead to a higher profit ratio? Or did a high-sales month come at the cost of lower margins due to discounting? A combination chart answers these questions at a glance, eliminating the need to visually jump between two separate graphs.

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2. Saves Valuable Dashboard Space

Dashboards have limited real estate. Combining two charts into one makes your dashboard cleaner and more efficient. Instead of dedicating space for a standalone sales bar chart and a separate profit ratio line chart, you can merge them into a single, cohesive component. This leaves more room for other important visuals without cluttering the screen.

3. Solves the "Different Scales" Problem with a Dual Axis

This is the core technical reason for using combination charts. When one measure is in the thousands or millions (like Revenue) and another is a small number (like a percentage GPM), plotting them on a single axis is impossible. The smaller measure becomes unreadable. Tableau's Dual Axis feature gives each measure its own independent y-axis, one on the left and one on the right. This allows Sales to be scaled from $0 to $1M on the left, while Profit Ratio is scaled from 0% to 50% on the right, all within the same chart.

Step-by-Step Guide: Creating a Bar and Line Combination Chart

Let's build one of the most common and useful combination charts: monthly sales shown as a bar chart, with the profit ratio shown as a line chart. We'll use the Sample - Superstore dataset that comes with Tableau, but the principles apply to any dataset with similar measures.

Step 1: Create a Basic Time-Series Chart

First, we need to set up the foundation of our chart, which is a view of sales over time.

1. Connect to the Sample - Superstore data source in Tableau.
2. Drag the Order Date field from the Data pane onto the Columns shelf.
3. Right-click the YEAR(Order Date) pill that appears and select Month from the second section of the date options (the one with the calendar icon, e.g., May 2017). This shows a continuous timeline.
4. Drag the Sales measure onto the Rows shelf.

Tableau will automatically generate a line chart showing the sum of sales for each month. This is our starting point.

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Step 2: Add the Second Measure to the View

Now, let's bring in our second metric, Profit Ratio. Because Profit Ratio doesn't exist by default in the Superstore dataset, we'll create it quickly as a calculated field.

1. In the top menu, go to Analysis > Create Calculated Field.
2. Name the field "Profit Ratio".
3. Enter the formula: SUM([Profit]) / SUM([Sales])
4. Click OK.
5. Find your new Profit Ratio measure in the Data pane and drag it onto the Rows shelf, placing it to the right of the SUM(Sales) pill.

You'll now see two separate line charts stacked vertically, one for sales and one for profit ratio. They each have their own axis, but they are in separate panes. The next step will merge them.

Step 3: Enable the Dual Axis

This is where the magic happens. We're going to tell Tableau to combine these two charts into a single space using a secondary axis.

1. On the Rows shelf, right-click the Profit Ratio pill (the second one).
2. From the dropdown menu, select Dual Axis.

Instantly, the two charts will overlay each other. You'll see one y-axis on the left for Sales and a new y-axis on the right for Profit Ratio. Tableau has made its best guess at the mark types, but we'll manually assign them in the next step to create our classic bar-and-line combo.

Step 4: Change the Mark Types

Now that our measures are sharing a space, we need to assign the correct visualization type to each one. Notice how the Marks card has changed. It now has tabs for All, SUM(Sales), and Profit Ratio, allowing you to control each layer of the chart independently.

1. On the Marks card, click on the tab for SUM(Sales).
2. Click the dropdown menu that likely says "Automatic" and select Bar. The marks for the sales metric will immediately change to bars.
3. Next, click the tab for Profit Ratio on the Marks card.
4. Ensure its mark type is set to Line. (Tableau usually keeps this as a line by default, but it's good practice to check.)

There you have it! You should now see a bar chart representing sales, with a line chart representing profit ratio layered beautifully on top.

Step 5: Clean Up and Format the Axes

For a polished, professional look, a little formatting goes a long way. Let's make sure our axes are clean and easy to read.

• Axis Titles: Right-click on each axis and select "Edit Axis..." You can change the title to be more descriptive, like "Total Sales" or "Monthly Profit Ratio".
• Number Formatting: Your Sales axis represents dollars and your Profit Ratio axis represents a percentage.
• Important note: Never synchronize the axes when your two measures have different units (like dollars and percentages). The "Synchronize Axis" option is only useful when both axes represent the same unit and you want them to share the same scale.

Practical Tips for Effective Combination Charts

You've built the chart - now let's make it great. Keep these design tips in mind to ensure your visualization is clear and insightful.

Keep it Simple

A dual-axis chart is perfect for two measures. Attempting to add a third or fourth measure often results in a cluttered, confusing visualization that's hard to interpret. Stick to one clear story per chart.

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Use Color Intentionally

Color is one of your most powerful tools. On the Marks card, use the independent tabs for each measure to assign distinct colors. A common practice is to use a more solid color for the bars in the background (like a light gray or blue) and a brighter, more assertive color for the line in the foreground (like orange or dark blue) to make it pop.

Polish Your Tooltips

Tooltips are the text boxes that appear when a user hovers over a data point. Tableau's default tooltip is good, but you can customize it to be much better. Click on the Tooltip button in the Marks card for each layer to edit the text. You can add more context, change the wording, and format the numbers to make the on-hover experience more informative.

Choose Logical Mark Types

Bar-and-line is the most common combination, and for good reason - bars are excellent for showing discrete magnitudes (like total sales in a month), while lines excel at showing a continuous trend. But don't be afraid to experiment. You might use a line with circles, or bars with shapes, depending on the story you want to tell.

Final Thoughts

Creating a combination chart in Tableau is a fundamental skill that elevates your dashboards from stacks of simple graphs to integrated stories. By using the Dual Axis feature, you can effectively visualize two different measures on a single chart, providing richer context and deeper insights into the relationships in your data.

Knowing how to build reports is essential, but sometimes the manual process - especially across different platforms - can slow you down. We built Graphed to remove that friction. Instead of dragging pills and right-clicking menus, you can simply ask in plain English, "Show me monthly sales as a bar chart with profit ratio as a line" and get an interactive dashboard built in seconds with live, connected data from your marketing and sales tools.