Bullet charts give you a way to quickly see how well a given metric is performing against target benchmarks. Bullet charts are simple, having just 3 components:
- A center bar showing the actual value of the metric you are graphing
- A vertical line showing a target value
- Colored bands that represent threshold ranges, such as poor, average, and good
Bullet charts are often used in dashboards to provide meter or gauge-like widgets that monitor various "health" or performance KPI (key performance indicators).
In this article:Bullet charts in Looker Studio
Bullet charts in Looker Studio visualize a single metric. You can optionally display a target value, and set up to 3 ranges. You can also change the chart colors, and apply data filters.
Example:
The bullet chart below is based on the average grade metric for a fictional online course. At a glance, you can see that the average grade exceeds the target:
- The center bar shows the metric value (3.2, in this example)
- The vertical bar shows the target average grade (set at 2.8 in the chart configuration)
- The colored bands in the graph show the ranges for poor, average, and good grade averages.
Bullet chart example. The Avg Grade metric is shown by adding a scorecard on top of the bullet chart.
Configure the chart
Add a new chart or select an existing chart. Then, use the Properties panel to configure the chart's Setup and Style tab properties.
Set up the chart data
The options in the Setup tab of the Properties panel determine how the chart's data is organized and displayed.
Data source
A data source provides the connection between the component and the underlying dataset.
- To change the chart's data source, click the current data source name.
- To view or edit the data source, click
. (You must have at least Viewer permission to see this icon.)
- Click +BLEND DATA to see data from multiple data sources in the same chart. Learn more about data blending.
. (You must have at least Dimension
Dimensions are data categories. Dimension values (the data that is contained by the dimension) are names, descriptions, or other characteristics of a category.
Drill down
This option appears on charts that support it.
Drilling down gives viewers a way to reveal additional levels of detail within a chart. When you turn on the Drill down option, each dimension that you add becomes another level of detail that you can drill into. Learn more about chart drill down.
Date range dimension
This option appears if your data source has a valid date dimension.
Note: This option does not appear for Google Ads or Google Analytics data sources, as these automatically select a dimension of type Date from the data source.
The Date range dimension is used as the basis for limiting the date range of the chart. For example, this is the dimension that is used if you set a date range property for the chart or if a viewer of the report uses a date range control to limit the time frame.
Time dimension
A time dimension provides a time-based X-axis for your chart. The data type of this dimension determines the granularity of the time series. For example, to visualize daily data, use the Date data type with full year, month, and day. To group the data by calendar quarter, change the data type to Year Quarter.
Breakdown dimension
This option displays the metric data broken down according to the selected dimension. For example, a chart that shows annual sales data could be broken down by a Sales Region dimension to show sales by region or by an Employee ID dimension to show sales by sales associate.
Metric
Metrics measure the things that are contained in dimensions and provide the numeric scale and data series for the chart.
Metrics are aggregations that come from the underlying dataset or that are the result of implicitly or explicitly applying an aggregation function, such as COUNT(), SUM(), or AVG(). The metric itself has no defined set of values, so you can’t group by a metric as you can with a dimension.
Bullet charts can have a single metric.
Range limits
Range limits specify the threshold values for the chart. Ranges often indicate "poor," "average," and "good" thresholds. By default, bullet charts set the range values to 1, 2, and 3. You should adjust these to better fit your actual data. You can remove a range from the chart by setting it to 0. If you don't want ranges at all, set all 3 ranges to the same value (use a value large enough to display the metric value).
| Range 1 | Set the threshold for the "poor" range. |
| Range 2 | Set the threshold for the "average" range. |
| Range 3 | Set the threshold for the "good" range. |
Target
Lets you specify the target value for the chart.
| Show target | Shows or hides the vertical target bar |
| Target value | Set the target value. |
Default date range
The Default date range property lets you set a timeframe for an individual chart.
Default date range options
| Auto | Uses the default date range, which is determined by the chart's data source. |
| Custom | Lets you use the calendar widget to select a custom date range for the chart. |
| Date compare type | Displays comparison data for the selected time period. |
Filter
Filters restrict the data that is displayed in the component by including or excluding the values that you specify. Learn more about the filter property.
Filter options
| Filter name | Click an existing filter to edit it. Mouse over the filter name and click X to delete it. |
| +Add a filter | Click this option to create a new filter for the chart. |
Stylize the chart
The options in the Style tab control the overall presentation and appearance of the chart.
Title
If you select the Show title checkbox, you can add a title and customize its appearance and placement on the chart.
Title options
| Title | Provides a text field where report editors can enter a custom title for the chart. |
|
Title font type |
Sets the font type for the title text. |
| Title font size | Sets the font size for the title text. |
| Font styling options | Applies bold, italic, or underline styling to the title text. |
| Title font color | Sets the font color for the title text. |
| Left | Aligns the chart title to the left side of the chart. |
| Center |
Centers the chart title above or below the chart. |
| Right | Aligns the chart title to the right side of the chart. |
| Top | Positions the chart title at the top of the chart. |
| Bottom | Positions the chart title at the bottom of the chart. |
Bar colors
This section controls the appearance of the center value bar and the ranges.
| Bar color | Sets the color of the value bar. |
| Range color | Sets the color of the ranges. |
Axis
Controls the appearance of the chart axis.
| Show axis | Shows or hides the chart axis. |
| Font color | Sets the color of the axis labels. |
| Font family | Sets the font family of the axis labels. |
Background and border
These options control the appearance of the chart background container.
| Background | Sets the chart background color. |
| Border Radius | Adds rounded borders to the chart background. When the radius is 0, the background shape has 90° corners. A border radius of 100° produces a circular shape. |
| Opacity | Sets the chart opacity. 100% opacity completely hides objects behind the chart. 0% opacity makes the chart invisible. |
| Border Color | Sets the chart border color. |
| Border Weight | Sets the chart border line thickness. |
| Border Style | Sets the chart border line style. |
| Add border shadow | Adds a shadow to the chart's lower and right borders. |
Chart Header
The chart header lets viewers perform various actions on the chart such as exporting the data or sorting the chart. The following chart header options are available:
| Show on hover (default) | Three vertical dots appear when you mouse over the chart header. Click these dots to access the header options. |
| Always show | The header options always appear. |
| Do not show | The header options never appear. Note that report viewers can always access the options by right-clicking the chart. |
| Color | Sets the color of the chart header options. |