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Bar in Bar Chart and Reference Line (Part 1)

This post was originally published on The Data School blog between 2018 and July 2025, before our program was renamed to MIP’s Analytics Career Accelerator. References throughout this article to “The Data School” or “DS” all refer to what is now MIP’s Analytics Career Accelerator. The program, its people, and its commitment to launching outstanding analytics careers remain the same – just under a new name.

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Bar in Bar chart is very useful for comparing values, which is intuitive. Reference Line is commonly used to show a standard that can show if the value above the standard or not. The following chart shows the sales of different sub-categories in 2018 and 2019 using a bar in bar chart with two reference lines showing average sales. Let’s do it together!

Step 1: Create sales for 2018 and 2019.

POWER BI report from Prerana Amatya on adventure works         

Step 2: Double Click “2018 Sales” and “2019 Sales”, select Bar chart. Then drag “Measure Values” to columns and put “Measure Names” to size. Filter on the year you want.

Learning DAX for the First Time and my Power BI's First Report

Step 3: Click Analysis and Turn off the Stack Marks.

Step 4: Drag Date to colours to colour the bar chart.

Congrats! We finish the Bar in Bar Chart!

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