Box Plot Maker
Created:November 10, 2024
Last Updated:March 21, 2025
Create beautiful box plots from your data. Upload your own data or try our sample datasets.
Try it out!
- Click Sample Data and select Restaurant Tips
- For Value column, select total_bill
- For Group By column, select day or leave it as None
- For Facet By column, select time or leave it as None
- For Orientation, select horizontal (recommended) or vertical
- For Quartile Method, select linear (default)
- Click Generate Box Plot to visualize the data
Calculator
1. Load Your Data
2. Select Columns & Options
Learn More
Box Plots: Definition, Uses, and Interpretation
What is a Box Plot?
A box plot, also known as a box-and-whisker plot, is a standardized way of displaying the distribution of data based on a five-number summary: minimum, first quartile (Q1), median, third quartile (Q3), and maximum.
Uses of Box Plots
- Comparing distributions between different groups or categories
- Identifying outliers and the spread of the data
- Showing the central tendency and variability of a dataset
- Visualizing the skewness of a distribution
Components of a Box Plot
- Box: Represents the interquartile range (IQR) from Q1 to Q3
- Line in the box: Represents the median
- Whiskers: Extend to the minimum and maximum values within 1.5 times the IQR
- Points: Individual points beyond the whiskers represent outliers
Interpreting Box Plots
When interpreting a box plot, consider the following:
- The position of the median line indicates the central tendency of the data
- The length of the box shows the spread of the middle 50% of the data
- The position of the box and whiskers relative to each other can indicate skewness
- Outliers provide information about extreme values in the dataset
- Comparing multiple box plots side-by-side can reveal differences between groups