

Box & Whisker Charts: Moving Beyond Averages and Understand Data Distribution
When it’s critical to understand variability, spot outliers, or compare performance consistency, the Box and Whisker chart is the go-to visual.
It offers a compact but rich snapshot of your data, showing not just the centre, but also the spread and extremes.
When to Use Box and Whisker Chart?
Compare distributions and weighted averages across multiple categories
Our Use Case: Comparing Auto-Insurance claims across different Car Brands
Visualized the distribution of claim amounts for different car brands using a Box and Whisker chart.
The Box and Whisker chart reveals:
- Which brands have consistent and low claim ranges, indicating more reliability
- Outliers that might need attention
- Brands with varied distributions, indicating lower reliability and uncertainty
Limitations of Traditional Bar Charts for this use case:
- Shows only one metric (average), hiding the full picture
- Can’t reveal outliers or variations across data points
- Risky for decision-making when distributions are skewed
Why Box and Whisker Chart Wins Here:
- Visualize entire claim distribution per brand – median, quartiles and extremes
- Surface patterns of risk and reliabilityPerfect for insurance diagnostics, underwriting insights, and performance reviews
At Perceptive Analytics our mission is “to enable businesses to unlock value in data.” For over 20 years, we’ve partnered with more than 100 clients—from Fortune 500 companies to mid-sized firms—to solve complex data analytics challenges. Our services include Advanced Analytics, Generative AI, and Business Intelligence (Tableau, Power BI and Looker) turning data into strategic insight. We would love to talk to you. Do reach out to us.
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