Scatter charts

Scatter charts show numeric coordinates along the horizontal (X) and vertical (Y) axes. Use a scatter chart when you want to find out how much one variable is affected by another. For example, plot the salary of employees and years of experience.

Learn how to add & edit a chart.

Scatter chart

How to format your data

  • First column: Enter values for the X axis.
  • First row (Optional): In the first row of each column, enter a category name. Entries in the first row show up as labels in the legend.
  • Other columns: Enter Y values. Each column of Y-values shows up as a series of points on the chart.
  • Other rows: Each row is a point on the chart.

Tips:

  • Add a trendline to find patterns in your data.
  • The closer the data points come to making a straight line, the stronger the correlation between the 2 variables.

Examples

Ice cream sales & temperature
Temperature(In Fahrenheit) Ice Cream Sales
54 $125
58 $175
59 $325
62 $275
64 $425
65 $400
67 $450
72 $425
73 $450
75 $525
77 $550
80 $625
Scatter chart showing ice cream sales and temperatures

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Revenue & expenses
Month Expenses Revenue
January $90,000 $110,000
February $120,000 $115,000
March $100,000 $117,000
April $110,000 $130,000
May $125,000 $127,000
June $60,000 $80,000
July $50,000 $87,000
August $70,000 $95,000
September $100,000 $110,000
October $120,000 $133,000
November $145,000 $150,000
December $90,000 $120,000
Scatter chart showing revenue and expenses

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Other types of scatter charts

Bubble chart

Use a bubble chart to show data with 3 dimensions. Like a scatter chart, the first 2 dimensions are the horizontal (X) and vertical (Y) axes. The third dimension is the size of the bubble.

Learn how to add & edit a chart.

Bubble chart

How to format your data

  • Column 1: Enter a label. The label shows up inside the bubble.
  • Column 2: Enter values for the X axis.
  • Column 3: Enter values for the Y axis. Each column of Y-values will show as a series of points on the chart.
  • Column 4: Enter the name of the data series. Each data series is a different color. The name shows up in the legend.
  • Column 5: Enter a number for the size of the bubble.
  • Rows: Each row represents a bubble on the chart.

Example

District enrollment

School Number of students Acceptance Rate School Type Size
Summerville Prep 400 95 Elementary 9
Sunset Academy 750 75 Elementary 8
Eastwood Middle School 250 40 Middle school 10
Greenlands High School 400 65 High school 7
West Shores High school 500 30 High school 6
Bubble chart showing student enrollment in district schools

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Customize a scatter chart

  1. On your computer, open a spreadsheet in Google Sheets.
  2. Double-click the chart you want to change.
  3. At the right, click Customize.
  4. Choose an option:
    • Chart style: Change how the chart looks.
    • Chart & axis titles: Edit or format title text.
    • Series: Change point colors, axis location, or add error bars, data labels, or trendline.
    • Legend: Change legend position and text.
    • Horizontal axis: Edit or format axis text, or reverse axis order.
    • Vertical axis: Edit or format axis text, set min or max value, or log scale.
    • Gridlines: Add and edit gridlines.
    • Bubble: For bubble charts, change how the bubble looks.

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