Distribution
Strip / Jitter Plot
Individual data points with random horizontal jitter to prevent overlap.
Employee Satisfaction by Team
Individual survey scores
View data (18 rows)
| Team | Score |
|---|---|
| Sales | 72 |
| Sales | 85 |
| Sales | 68 |
| Sales | 91 |
| Sales | 77 |
| Sales | 83 |
| Eng | 88 |
| Eng | 92 |
| Eng | 79 |
| Eng | 95 |
| Eng | 86 |
| Eng | 90 |
| Ops | 65 |
| Ops | 71 |
| Ops | 58 |
| Ops | 74 |
| Ops | 62 |
| Ops | 69 |
Use a strip / jitter plot when…
- Small datasets where every point matters
- Showing raw data alongside summaries
Avoid when…
- Large datasets (>500 points per group)
- When distribution shape is the focus
Data it needs
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Min Rows | 5 |
| Min Columns | 2 |
| Column Types | stringnumber |
Visual anatomy
Marks
circle
Channels
position-yposition-x (jittered)
Axes
x-categoricaly-quantitative
Guiding principles
Common mistakes
Too much jitter obscuring group membership
Overlapping points without transparency
History
Common in biostatistics since the 1990s as an alternative to bar-with-error-bar plots.
Accessibility notes
Hue is the only signal separating the groups, so pair color with a redundant encoding (shape or category label below each strip). Provide summary statistics per group as text.
Related reading
Got data? Let's see what works.
Drop your CSV. You'll get a Strip / Jitter Plot plus four alternatives - ranked by which one actually fits your data best.