---
title: "Jitter plot"
description: "Scattered dots per category. What the jitter plot is for, the data it needs and every option it has."
section: "Widgets"
canonical: "https://banksync.io/docs/widgets/chart-jitter"
specs: ["dashboards"]
operationBindings: [{"capability":"dashboards","operation":"dashboards.author"}]
---

Scattered dots per category. It sits in the **Distribution** group of the widget library.

![Example jitter plot on a BankSync dashboard](https://cdn.banksync.io/screenshots/docs/charts/jitter.e7bdf6b3aea2e24b.png)

## When to use it

Use a jitter plot to show every value in each group as a dot, nudged sideways at random so dots with the same value do not sit on top of each other. It helps when many transactions share round amounts, such as recurring $9.99 charges across accounts.

## When to pick something else

- Want a tidy, packed layout that shows density? Use a **Beeswarm**.
- Values rarely repeat? A **Strip plot** is cleaner.
- Thousands of values? Summarise with a **Box plot** or **Violin**.
- Two number fields, not a group and a number? Use a **Scatter plot**.

## The data it needs

Pick these in the **Data** tab of the inspector. BankSync suggests a column for each when your source has an obvious match.

| Field        | Needed   | Pick       | Notes |
| ------------ | -------- | ---------- | ----- |
| **Category** | Optional | a category |       |
| **Value**    | Yes      | a number   |       |
| **Series**   | Optional | a category |       |

Each row is drawn as it is, so shape the rows first if you need totals. See [Shaping data](/docs/dashboards/dashboards-shaping-data).

## Jitter plot options

This chart has no options of its own; everything on its **Style** tab is the shared chart styling below.

## Shared chart styling

Every chart also has the shared styling options. These apply to this one:

- [Legend](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#legend): position, layout and which series show.
- [Axes](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#axes): titles, tick labels and number format.
- [Grid](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#grid), [title](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#title), [padding](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#padding) and [background](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#background).
- [Value labels](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#value-labels) on the marks.
- [Categories and labels](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#categories-and-labels): top N with "Other", sort order, readable labels, the handwritten callout.
- [Style](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#style): corner radius, line width, opacity and animation.
- [Tooltip](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#tooltip) on hover.
- Click to filter: clicking a mark can filter the rest of the dashboard. See [Filters and cross-filtering](/docs/dashboards/filters-and-cross-filtering).
- [Colours](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#palette): follow the dashboard palette or pick one for this chart.

## Messy data

- Blank or non-numeric values are skipped. With none left you see "No numbers to show".
- The sideways offset means nothing; only the height of a dot matters. Offsets are fixed per group, so adding a row in one group never reshuffles another.
- Above 2,000 values the chart samples evenly and notes "Showing 2,000 of …".
- Dots fade as a group gets busier, so crowded areas look darker.
- Too many groups for the width fold into "Other (n)", keeping the groups with the most values.

## On a phone

On a full-width phone card each group's column is narrow, so dots overlap more. A few groups read fine; for many groups a **Box plot** is easier to scan.

## Related charts

- [Scatter plot](/docs/widgets/chart-scatter): Two measures on x/y
- [Histogram](/docs/widgets/chart-histogram): Distribution of one measure
- [Box plot](/docs/widgets/chart-boxplot): Quartiles with whiskers
- [Violin](/docs/widgets/chart-violin): Density per category
- [Beeswarm](/docs/widgets/chart-beeswarm): Non-overlapping dot plot
- [Density](/docs/widgets/chart-density): Kernel-smoothed distribution
- [Ridgeline](/docs/widgets/chart-ridgeline): Stacked distributions
- [Strip plot](/docs/widgets/chart-strip): Each value as a tick