Comparison
Horizontal Bar Chart
Bars drawn horizontally, ideal when category labels are long or numerous.
Developer Satisfaction by Language
Stack Overflow Survey 2025
View data (8 rows)
| Language | Satisfaction |
|---|---|
| Python | 88 |
| TypeScript | 85 |
| Rust | 82 |
| Go | 78 |
| Kotlin | 75 |
| Swift | 72 |
| C# | 68 |
| Java | 62 |
Use a horizontal bar chart when…
- Long category labels
- Many categories (10+)
- Rankings or league tables
Avoid when…
- Few short-labeled categories (vertical bar is simpler)
- Time series
- Share-of-total comparisons (use 100% stacked bar)
Data it needs
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Min Rows | 2 |
| Min Columns | 2 |
| Column Types | stringnumber |
Visual anatomy
Marks
rectangle
Channels
position-ylength-xcolor-hue
Axes
x-quantitativey-categorical
Guiding principles
Consider instead
Common mistakes
Not sorting bars by value
Truncating the axis
History
Rotation of Playfair's bar chart from his Commercial and Political Atlas (1786), favored when category labels need horizontal room.
Accessibility notes
Horizontal layout improves label readability for screen readers; the catalog's accompanying data table renders the same values for non-visual access.
Related reading
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Drop your CSV. You'll get a Horizontal Bar Chart plus four alternatives - ranked by which one actually fits your data best.