US County Map with Bubbles

A county map of the United States shows a comparison of measurement values across US States.

The following steps extend the work completed in State Map with Bubbles and demonstrate how to create a map visual on the dataset US County Populations [data source samples.us_counties]. This produces a map with bubble marks that correspond to the total population of each county.

Tip. Remember that to map county information, the dimension must be named county. This article demonstrates how to use the Alias setting to make the dataset field ctname conform to this requirement.
  1. Open US State Population - Map with Bubbles visual in Edit mode.
  2. Under Dimensions, select ctname and drag it over the Geo shelf on the main part of the screen. Drop to add it to the shelf, to the right of state field.

  3. If you click Refresh Visual at this time, it generates an error.
  4. Alias the field ctname as county.
  5. Enable the Zoom to active area option, as described in Customizing Zoom.
  6. Under Dimensions, select stname and drag it over the Filters shelf on the main part of the screen.
  7. On the Filters shelf, click the icon (down arrow) on the stname field, and select Pick values from list.
  8. In the Pick values for stname modal window, select California and click Save.

  9. Change the size of the bubbles to the range 1-10, as described in Changing the Mark Size Range.
  10. Click Refresh Visual.

    Note that the map automatically zooms in to show detail of California, and the bubbles are sized to show high population concentration around San Francisco and Los Angeles.

  11. Click (pencil icon) next to the title of the visualization to edit it, and enter the new name.

  12. Change the title to US County Population - Map with Bubbles.
  13. At the top left corner of the Visual Designer, click Save.