Building a Hex Map

Awhile back I built a hex map for a Makeover Monday about interstate moving. Using a hex map lets you show geographic information differently. It doesn't emphasize area or where things are as much, making sure each part on the map gets equal space. Keep reading to learn how to build one.

Click to see my dashboard on Tableau Public

Steps for Building a Hex Map

STEP 1: Add the Hexagon shape to your Tableau shapes repository and obtain a hex map file.

You can get both of these from Sir Viz-a-Lot's blog.

STEP 2: Join the hex map data set to your other data set.

In this case, I formed a relationship of the hex map data set to the interstate moving data set in Tableau.

STEP 3: Add the Row pill to the Rows shelf, right click the axis to edit, and tick "Reversed" to reverse the axis.

STEP 4: Add the Column field to the Columns shelf.

STEP 5: Change the mark type to Shape.

STEP 6: Choose the Hexagon that you uploaded to your shape repository.

If you need help with uploading custom shapes to your Tableau repository, you can watch this video.

STEP 7: Drag the Abbreviation field to Text on the Marks card.

To format the label, click label, and then tick "Allow labels to overlap other marks." Change the alignment to "Middle Center."

At this point you should see a map forming. Since the hexagons are still black, I changed the labels to white.

STEP 8: Add color with a calculated field.

In order to change the hexagons' colors, y0u need to create a calculated field. For my hex map, I needed colors for when a state increased, decreased or had no change in population, so my calculated field needed to allow for 3 colors.

Then, I dragged the calculated field to Color on the Marks card.

STEP 9: Format the color, size, and text of your hex map, and you're done!

Author:

Samantha Fitzsimmons

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