# How to build a Bullet chart in Tableau | Tableau Charts

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2023-02-06
- **Format:** Video · 4 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data visualisation
- **Tools:** Tableau (dual axis, formatting, reference lines)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/how-to-build-a-bullet-chart-in-tableau-tableau-charts
- **Watch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mx78l8Uw3E

I show you how to build a bullet chart in Tableau in about two minutes. Starting from a basic bar chart, I add a target reference line, then use a dual axis to layer previous year cells behind the current cells.

## Key takeaways

- Start with a simple bar chart using regions on rows and current cells on columns
- Add target and previous year cells to detail so they're available as reference lines
- Use a reference line set per cell with sum aggregation to show the target
- Create a dual axis to layer the previous year bar behind the current cells bar, then synchronise the axes
- Hide and show headers carefully when reordering pills so both axes remain visible

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/how-to-build-a-bullet-chart-in-tableau-tableau-charts

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just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena