Pareto analysis in Tableau - Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

Pareto analysis helps you find the most important factors in your data. It shows which few items cause most of the effect, like 20% of products making 80% of sales. This helps focus on what matters most.

When you want to see which products bring most of your sales revenue.

When you need to identify the few customers who generate most of your profit.

When you want to find the main causes of defects in a manufacturing process.

When you want to prioritize issues that have the biggest impact on your business.

When you want to show a clear visual of the 80/20 rule in your data.

Steps

Step 1: Connect

- Tableau Data Source pane

Your data loads and appears in the Data pane on the left side.

Step 2: Drag

- Dimension (e.g., Product) to Rows shelf

Rows show each product listed vertically.

Step 3: Drag

- Measure (e.g., Sales) to Columns shelf

A bar chart appears showing sales by product.

Step 4: Sort

- Right-click the Product field on Rows shelf → Sort

Products reorder from highest to lowest sales.

Step 5: Create

- Calculated Field named 'Running Total' with formula: RUNNING_SUM(SUM([Sales]))

A new field calculates cumulative sales.

Step 6: Create

- Calculated Field named 'Percent of Total' with formula: [Running Total] / TOTAL(SUM([Sales]))

A new field calculates cumulative percent of total sales.

Step 7: Drag

- 'Percent of Total' to Columns shelf next to Sales

A dual-axis chart appears showing sales and cumulative percent.

Step 8: Right-click

- Second axis (Percent of Total) → Dual Axis

Both charts overlay on the same axis.

Step 9: Synchronize

- Right-click second axis → Synchronize Axis

Both axes align for easy comparison.

Step 10: Change

- Marks card for Percent of Total → Change mark type to Line

A line shows cumulative percent over bars.

Step 11: Add

- Reference Line on Percent of Total axis at 0.8 (80%)

A line appears showing the 80% cumulative sales point.

Before vs After

Before

Bar chart shows sales by product in no particular order, no cumulative percent line.

After

Bar chart sorted by sales descending with a line showing cumulative percent of total sales and a reference line at 80%.

Settings Reference

Sort Order

📍 Right-click Dimension on Rows shelf → Sort

To order items from highest to lowest sales for Pareto analysis.

Default: Manual

Dual Axis

📍 Right-click second measure axis → Dual Axis

To overlay sales bars and cumulative percent line on the same chart.

Default: Single Axis

Synchronize Axis

📍 Right-click second axis → Synchronize Axis

To align scales of sales and percent for accurate visual comparison.

Default: Do not synchronize

Reference Line

📍 Analytics pane → Drag Reference Line to Percent of Total axis

To mark key thresholds like 80% cumulative sales.

Default: None

Common Mistakes

Not sorting the dimension by sales before creating running total.

Running total will not accumulate correctly if items are unordered, breaking the Pareto principle visualization.

Always sort the dimension descending by sales before calculating running total.

Not synchronizing axes after creating dual axis.

Axes scales differ, making the cumulative percent line misleading or hard to read.

Right-click the second axis and choose Synchronize Axis for proper alignment.

Summary

Pareto analysis in Tableau shows which few items contribute most to a total.

Sort your data descending by measure before calculating running totals.

Use dual axis and synchronize axes to combine bars and cumulative percent line.