How to Make a Pareto Chart in Excel with the Built-in Chart Type

Step-by-step

A Pareto chart combines columns sorted from largest to smallest with a cumulative percentage line, so you can see which few items account for most of the total: the 80/20 rule. Since Excel 2016 there’s a built-in Pareto chart that does the sorting and the percentages for you, with no formulas.

1. Start with plain data

You need one column of categories (states, in the example) and one column of values (sales). The data doesn’t need to be sorted, and you don’t need a cumulative percentage column.

2. Insert the Pareto chart

Click inside the data, go to Insert and open Statistical Charts (the icon is easy to miss), then choose Pareto under Histogram. Excel sorts the columns in descending order behind the scenes and adds the cumulative percentage line on a secondary axis.

3. Or convert an existing chart

If you’ve already made a column chart, select it and go to Change Chart Type. Pareto isn’t listed on its own: click Histogram and choose the second option, Pareto.

4. Read the 80/20 split

Follow the line against the percentage axis on the right. In the example, just three states (California, Texas and Florida) make up about 75% of sales. Those are the few items worth focusing on.

Built-in or manual?

The built-in chart is the fastest route, but it keeps the cumulative percentages to itself: you can’t put them in a report, filter them or reuse them. If you need those numbers, build the chart by hand with a cumulative percentage column, as in the manual Pareto chart tutorial.