How to Create a Map Chart in Power BI

Power BI is an incredibly powerful data visualization tool and has a variety of visuals that allow the user to interpret and analyze data quickly and easily. Maps are an obvious choice if you want to plot data that has a geographic component. This might mean tracking sales by state, monitoring branch performance by city, or showing distributions of users worldwide. In this blog, we will walk through the steps to create a map in Power BI.

Table of Contents:

• What is a Map Chart in Power BI?
• Why do we need a Map Chart in Power BI?
• Advantages of Map Chart in Power BI
• Steps to Create a Map Chart in Power BI
• Real-world Example
• Performance Considerations
• Best Practice
• Conclusion

What is a Map Chart in Power BI?

A Map Chart in Power BI is a visual tool useful for showing data points geographically using countries, states, cities, or even exact coordinates with latitude and longitude. Map charts allow users to simply see and analyze data with other data across the globe or in the U.S. Also, it allows users to spot comparisons based on the location using bubbles or area fills on a map. These visualizations help users to improve data presentation by adding location context, which facilitates location insight and spatially driven decisions when the user is making data-driven decisions.

Why do we need a Map Chart in Power BI?

• Geospatial Insights: A map chart allows viewers to visualize data that has a geographical component, meaning that they can easily identify patterns/trends over geography. Suppose you were looking for a visual representation of performance by region or customer distribution by city. In that case, a map will provide both clarity and visualization of your data by geographic coordinates.
• Enhanced Data Storytelling: Maps can help not only to visualize data by offering a spatial context to complex data, but they also provide an intuitive way for the user to see relationships between data and locations, which can add value to the decision-making process and effectively tell a data story.
• Improved Comparisons: Generally, maps provide a more immediate identification of relative differences, such as comparing various performance metrics over different countries, states, or cities. Maps will give you a faster sense of the insights in your data, which can help you in prioritizing places for improvement.
• Interactive Analysis: Power BI map elements are interactive. For example, you can zoom in, hover over, and/or select map elements for more detailed information. The advantages of Power BI maps include interactivity, which enhances the experience and makes it easier for users to explore and analyze the data.

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Advantages of Map Chart in Power BI

• Easily Interpreted: Maps are a visual representation of data, hence, they are easy to understand and help identify trends and differences between places.
• Good Insight: To quickly identify high-performing areas and those needing improvement.
• Enhance Reporting: Maps provide a better visual appeal and provide a clear understanding of data.
• Interactive Discovery: Maps allow users to zoom, click, and discover data points for better understanding.
• Assists with informed Decisions: Understanding data based on location for businesses means better and faster decisions.

Steps to Create a Map Chart in Power BI

We will be using the following Employee dataset to understand how to use maps in Power BI.

Step 1: Dataset Description

Suppose we have an Employee dataset with the following columns:

• Location (City names)
• Department
• Salary
• Bonus
• Employee Name
• Latitude
• Longitude

This dataset will serve as the foundation of our map’s visualization.

Step 2: Selecting the Map Visual

• Go to the Visualization pane > Click on the Map icon

Step 3: Adding Location Data

Drag the location field into the location section of the Map visual.

Drag the Department field into the Legend section; Each department will be assigned a different color. This way, you can quickly distinguish which department’s employees are located in which cities.

Explanation: The size of each bubble will vary according to the bonus amount. Larger bonuses will appear as larger bubbles, and smaller bonuses will be represented with smaller ones.

Real-world Example

1. Retail Store Performance

A retail organization can use map charts to indicate the performance of its stores across a number of cities or geographical areas. They can show sales, inventory levels, or even foot traffic patterns against geographical areas/locations. This type of map allows users to glance over a chain scale of stores and quickly revise valuable information on stores that underperform, or areas with poor performance. A clothing chain might map out sales to show areas where sales are low, and may consider how to enhance their marketing or product in those areas.

2. Healthcare Network Visualization

Map charts can be used by hospitals or healthcare providers to display patient data, including emergency response times or hospital admissions per country or district within their network of professionals/hospital locations. By overlaying demographic data against geographic data on patients they serve, the organization can visualize patterns, so that the areas that have higher incidences of specific conditions or blocks of countries that have longer wait times at their facilities, allowing them to allocate resources, plans, and distributions in a better way.

Performance Considerations

• Limit the Number of Data Points: Try to limit the data points, as too many can slow down the map rendering.
• Use Aggregate Data: Try to group your data by category instead of plotting thousands of detailed points.
• Optimize Location Data: Make sure your location fields are clean and standardized. Incorrect or ambiguous data can cause slow loading or mapping errors.
• Avoid Summarization Errors: When using Latitude and longitude, make sure you set them to “Don’t Summarize” to avoid unexpected errors.

Best Practice

• Use Legends Wisely: Legends provide a straightforward guide for users to quickly identify categories and let them be confident in selecting color schemes.
• Keep it Simple: If the map has too many features or colors, it might appear cluttered. Commonly, a simpler visual can be more readable and will also load faster. 
• Format for Readability: Format your reports with readability in mind when changing the theme of your map (like dark or light background), as you have to make sure to select the one that helps your data points pop out.
• Test the Graphics on Devices: It is always good practice to preview your map on both devices and to test your graphics as much as possible.

Conclusion

Map visuals in Power BI are not just visually appealing, but they are a strong tool for gaining meaningful insights. By mapping the data geographically, users can easily identify patterns, trends, and performance across regions. Whether you run a small business or a large organization, using maps in your report helps improve decision-making and enhance the presentation. You can explore your data from multiple angles with features like legends, bubble sizes, and tooltips.

To learn more about Power BI and its functions, check out this Power BI Course and also explore Power BI Interview Questions prepared by industry experts.

How to Create a Map Chart in Power BI – FAQs