How to Create a Map in Tableau

Tableau Maps are handy to visualize the geographical data. In this section, we show how to Create a Map in Tableau with an example. For this Map demo, we are going to write the Custom SQL Query against the SQL Server Data Source.

I suggest you to refer Connecting Tableau to SQL Server article to understand the configurations. The custom SQL query that we are going to use for this Tableau report is:

-- SQL Query to create a Map in Tableau
SELECT ProdCat.EnglishProductCategoryName, 
       ProdSubCat.EnglishProductSubcategoryName, 
       Geo.EnglishCountryRegionName, 
       Geo.StateProvinceName, 
       Geo.City, 
       Geo.PostalCode, 
       Geo.IpAddressLocator, 
       Prod.EnglishProductName, 
       Prod.Color, 
       Prod.DealerPrice, 
       Cust.FirstName, 
       Cust.LastName, 
       Cust.Gender, 
       Cust.YearlyIncome, 
       Cust.EnglishEducation, 
       Cust.EnglishOccupation, 
       Fact.OrderQuantity, 
       Fact.TotalProductCost, 
       Fact.SalesAmount, 
       Fact.TaxAmt, 
       Fact.OrderDate
FROM DimProductSubcategory AS ProdSubCat
   INNER JOIN
     DimProduct AS Prod ON ProdSubCat.ProductSubcategoryKey = Prod.ProductSubcategoryKey 
   INNER JOIN
     DimProductCategory  AS ProdCat ON ProdSubCat.ProductCategoryKey = ProdCat.ProductCategoryKey 
   INNER JOIN
     FactInternetSales AS Fact ON Prod.ProductKey = Fact.ProductKey 
   INNER JOIN
     DimCustomer AS Cust ON Fact.CustomerKey = Cust.CustomerKey
   INNER JOIN
     DimGeography AS Geo ON Cust.GeographyKey = Geo.GeographyKey

A first approach to Create a Map in Tableau

Double-click on any Geographic filed such as City, Postcode, Country, or State will automatically create a Map in Tableau. In this example, we will double-click on the State Province Name dimension

From the below screenshot, you can see that Tableau had added the Latitude value to Row shelf, Longitude value to Column shelf, and State province Name to Details field present in Marks Shelf.

The second approach to Create a Map in Tableau

Drag and drop any Geographic filed such as City, Country, Postcode, or State on the Details field will automatically create a Map in Tableau. In this example, we will drag the State Province Name dimension to Details field present in Marks Shelf

Now you can see the auto-generated map.

You can also add the geographical hierarchy, as well. From the below screenshot, you can see that we have added the State province hierarchy (province Name, City) to the details shelf.

The third approach to Create a Map

Drag and drop any Geographic filed to Column, or Row shelf and selecting the Map from Show Me window will automatically create a Map in Tableau. In this example, we will drag the State Province Name dimension to Columns Shelf and selecting the Map present in Show Me Shelf

That will automatically create a Tableau Map

Let us add Sales Amount Measure to Colors field in the Marks Shelf. It will add color to each state based on the Sales Amount that occurred.