Box plot maker
Compare the spread of scores, times or prices across groups.
Enter moves down.
Chart style
Look & reading
Ties use competition ranks: 1, 2, 2, 4. Blank cells break the line.
1,234.5
More settings · source, target and labels
Reader view
See it as your reader will.
The same live chart, without the editing fields. Hover or focus a mark to inspect its value.
Live preview
Start with the example or add your own data.
Five-number summary
The same numbers, a different view. Change the style in Design. Your values stay with you.
Make a free box plot to compare groups: the median, the middle half and the outliers at a glance. Paste raw values, get the five-number summary and export a live chart.
Read a box plot in five numbers
The sample holds fictional quiz scores for four class periods. Each box covers the middle half of one period's scores, from the first quartile (Q1) to the third (Q3). The line inside the box is the median. The whiskers reach the lowest and highest scores that are not outliers.
A ring beyond a whisker is an outlier: a score far from the rest of the class. Hover over a box, or focus the chart and use the arrow keys, to read n, the median, the middle half, the whiskers and the outliers.
How to make a box plot
- Enter Group and Value columns, one value per row, or paste one column per group.
- Choose points, whiskers and the quartile method. Keep input order or sort the groups by median.
- Download a PNG or SVG for a slide or document, copy the embed code for a web page, or copy a link that reopens the chart with your data.
Keep every value
Use two columns, Group and Value, with one value per row. Repeat the group name for every value. Paste a spreadsheet with one column per group and the maker converts it to this long format.
| Group | Value |
|---|---|
| Period 1 | 74 |
| Period 1 | 81 |
| Period 2 | 66 |
Use up to 12 groups and 2,000 values. No data or a blank value means missing, never zero, and the summary under the chart counts missing values. A group with no values stays on the chart with a No data label. Points show every value while each group has 50 values or fewer; turn them on or off in Design.
Match your textbook
Quartiles have more than one definition, so two tools can give different Q1 and Q3 for the same scores. Standard matches Excel's QUARTILE.INC. School (TI-84) splits the sorted values into a lower and an upper half, leaves out the median when the count is odd, and takes the median of each half, like the TI-84 and most textbooks. The median is the same with both.
Whiskers use the 1.5 × IQR rule by default. IQR is the width of the box, Q3 minus Q1. A value more than 1.5 × IQR below or above the box is drawn as an outlier. Choose Min–max to draw the whiskers to the lowest and highest values, with no outliers.
Is the box plot maker free?
Yes. You can enter values, read the five-number summary and download PNG or SVG without signing up. Free exports and live embeds carry the Meiku Charts mark; Pro removes it.
Why do my quartiles differ from my textbook?
Calculators and spreadsheets use different quartile methods. Choose School (TI-84) in Design to match most textbooks, or Standard to match Excel's QUARTILE.INC. The median is the same with both methods.
Can I copy the five-number summary?
Yes. The summary under the chart lists n, minimum, Q1, median, Q3, maximum and outliers for each group. Copy puts it on the clipboard, ready to paste into a spreadsheet with one column per statistic.