Bar Chart vs. Histogram: Key Differences and SimilaritiesBy Indeed Editorial Team Updated October 12, 2022 Published May 26, 2021 The Indeed Editorial Team comprises a diverse and talented team of writers, researchers and subject matter experts equipped with Indeed's data and insights to deliver useful tips to help guide your career journey. Professionals use visual aids, like charts and graphs, to identify trends in data and to educate their audiences through reports and presentations. Two key types of graphical representation of data are bar charts and histograms, which look similar but are actually very different. If you use data in your work, learning the differences between these two graph types can help you choose the right one to represent your data. In this article, we explain what bar charts and histograms are, describe some key differences and discuss ways in which these two graphs are similar. Top job searches near you What is a bar chart?A bar chart, or column chart, is a type of bar graph that's used to display categorical data. It allows you to easily compare variables across different qualitative categories. Double bar charts allow you to compare two similar data sets at the same time. You can use a bar chart to illustrate the following types of data:
Here's an example of when you might use a bar chart: 
Related: A Guide to Stacked Bar Charts What is a histogram?A histogram is a type of frequency graph used to display statistical or quantitative data. It allows you to show the frequency or distribution of continuous data, like the length of store visits or the number of students involved in one or more extracurricular organizations. Histograms include data ranges grouped into data bins, or intervals, on the x-axis, with frequency counts on the y-axis. You can use a histogram to illustrate the following types of data:
Here's an example of when you might use a histogram: 
Related: What are Histograms? (Definition, Types and How To Create Them) Bar charts vs. histogramsBar charts and histograms both offer effective ways to display large amounts of data visually, but they are different in several key ways. Some of the differences between bar charts and histograms include: 1. Data typeHistograms and bar charts can both display large sets of data, but use different types of data points. In a bar chart, the bars represent separate categories of items, like ice cream flavors or car brands. Histograms are frequency graphs where the bars represent how often a certain event happened, like how many students in a class achieved a certain test score. For this reason, histograms can be useful tools for identifying trends among customers or employees. These two graphic aids require different data collection methods. With a bar chart, you might count items that fit into certain categories, but for a histogram, you might monitor events and track how often certain ones happen. That way, you can understand the frequency of certain events. Related: 13 Types of Graphs and Charts (Plus When To Use Them) 2. Data organizationWhile the bars on a bar chart are separate categories of items, the bars on histograms are intervals (or bins) that span from one number to another. Bar chart categories are qualitative, which means you can't count them numerically. For example, a bar chart at a diner might show how many people ordered different menu items, like melts and hamburgers. You can count the number of people who ordered each menu item, but none of the items have a numerical value. A histogram's bars might encompass a single number or a longer range. For example, a histogram might count the number of times customers at a coffee shop bought one, two, or three drinks. Another might count the number of employees in a company whose salary falls into different categories, with each category spanning $10,000. Related: Types of Bar Graphs, Their Uses and How To Draw Them 3. Data orderBar charts don't have strict organizational rules. You may arrange the categories by factors like alphabetical order or size order. Many people choose size order to arrange the bars, which makes it easier to interpret the smallest and largest values. For example, a bar chart measuring how many people bought ice cream scoops of various flavors in a day might feature the most popular flavor on the left side and order the remaining categories from largest to smallest. This order makes it easier to see the most and least popular flavors, but it's not the only way to organize the data. Histograms, meanwhile, have an ordered organization, with the bins or ranges organized in increasing order. For example, a histogram measuring the number of days that experienced certain temperatures might start with the lowest temperature interval on the left side. Related: What Is Quantitative Data? (With Methods, Benefits and Examples) 4. Appearance of dataBar charts have space between each bar on the graph, since each bar is a discrete category that doesn't overlap. For example, a bar chart measuring the popularity of different candy bars might have a space between each candy type. Histograms don't have spaces between bars because there are no gaps between bins. A histogram might appear to have a gap if a bin's value is zero, but that indicates that there are no events within that period. For example, a histogram of student test scores might seem to have a gap between the 70-79 bin and the 90-100 bin if no student scored between 80 and 98. The empty space in the 80-98 interval is significant, whereas the spaces between bar chart categories simply make them easier to read. Related: How To Do Histograms in Excel With 3 Methods 5. Data distributionThe distribution of a data set is the shape the data takes when you plot it on a graph. Because you can organize a bar chart's categories however you want, the distribution of a bar chart doesn't signify anything about the data set, though you might place the largest categories on the left side to identify them quickly. Histograms follow a strict horizontal order from smallest to largest interval, so you can draw conclusions by the shape the data takes. For example, if a teacher's histogram of exam scores shows a skew, or a pronounced lean, to the left, it might indicate that most students struggled with the test. The teacher might revise the assessment for the next semester to try to get a normal distribution of data. In statistics, a normal distribution has a curve like a bell, with higher frequencies in the middle of the measured intervals. Related: FAQ: What Is Normal Distribution? (And How To Use It) 6. Data precisionBar charts compare discrete variables that you can count, which means that the bars always show exact values for each category. For example, a bar chart measuring the inventory count of shirts in different sizes might show that the store has exactly 36 small shirts in stock. You can find out exact values for every category just by looking at the chart. This makes bar charts useful for countable items, like inventory stock. While a histogram shows the exact count for each interval it measures, the intervals themselves might not be exact. For example, a histogram might measure the frequency of customers who bought a certain number of shirts during a semi-annual sale. One category might be one to five shirts, another five to 10 and another 10 to 15. By looking at the histogram, you can get a sense of frequency trends, but you can't identify exactly how many shirts a specific customer bought without looking at the original data set. Related: How To Understand Graphs: Types, Uses and Tips Are you looking for a job now? Similarities between bar charts and histogramsWhile bar charts and histograms are largely different, they're alike in some ways. Here are some key similarities between the two graph types:
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