Tile Grid Map
Each region is a square tile in a grid with equal visual weight and no geographic distortion.
Median Household Income
Equal tiles per state
View data (50 rows)
| Median Income | State |
|---|---|
| 56900 | AL |
| 81100 | AK |
| 69100 | AZ |
| 55400 | AR |
| 84900 | CA |
| 82300 | CO |
| 83800 | CT |
| 73800 | DE |
| 61800 | FL |
| 65700 | GA |
| 88000 | HI |
| 66500 | ID |
| 72200 | IL |
| 62700 | IN |
| 65600 | IA |
| 64500 | KS |
| 55600 | KY |
| 53600 | LA |
| 63200 | ME |
| 90200 | MD |
| 89000 | MA |
| 63500 | MI |
| 77700 | MN |
| 49100 | MS |
| 61800 | MO |
| 64000 | MT |
| 66600 | NE |
| 66300 | NV |
| 83400 | NH |
| 89300 | NJ |
| 54000 | NM |
| 75900 | NY |
| 62800 | NC |
| 65300 | ND |
| 59200 | OH |
| 55800 | OK |
| 70100 | OR |
| 68700 | PA |
| 74000 | RI |
| 58200 | SC |
| 62000 | SD |
| 58500 | TN |
| 67400 | TX |
| 79100 | UT |
| 67700 | VT |
| 80600 | VA |
| 82200 | WA |
| 50900 | WV |
| 65000 | WI |
| 65000 | WY |
Use a tile grid map when…
- When equal representation matters (elections)
- When geography would mislead
- Comparing per-region rates where small regions matter as much as large ones
Avoid when…
- When geographic position is important
- Non-standard region sets
Data it needs
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Min Rows | 3 |
| Min Columns | 2 |
| Column Types | stringnumber |
Visual anatomy
Guiding principles
- IntegrityShow Data Variation, Not Design Variation
Equal visual weight per region
- ColorPerceptually Uniform Colormaps
Use a sequential colormap for ordered metrics (income, rates) and a diverging one for signed metrics (margins, deltas)
- ContextAbove All Else, Show the Data
Label every tile with the region abbreviation — color alone is insufficient
Consider instead
Common mistakes
Unlabeled tiles
Poor color scale
History
Evolved from hex grid maps; popularized by Bloomberg and The Guardian in the 2010s.
Accessibility notes
Label each tile and pick a colorblind-safe palette (ColorBrewer YlOrRd or viridis for sequential; RdBu for diverging) — the chart leans heavily on color-luminance. Provide a sorted data table as fallback.
Related reading
Got data? Let's see what works.
Drop your CSV. You'll get a Tile Grid Map plus four alternatives - ranked by which one actually fits your data best.