How to Create a Gauge Chart in Tableau: Step-by-Step Tutorial

During Dashboard Week, one of our projects involved using Anime Viewer Data, which included a score for each anime title.

For my dashboard, I wanted to feature a gauge chart to display the score of the highest-rated anime title — serving as a simple, eye-catching KPI element.

Here is the link to my Anime Dashboard:

https://public.tableau.com/views/AnimeDashboardFullMetal/TheAlchemyofSuccessFullmetalvsOtherActionAnime?:language=en-US&:sid=&:redirect=auth&:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link

In this blog, I’ll walk you through how to build a gauge chart in Tableau step by step , a chart type that can be used in a wide variety of KPI or performance-based visualisations.

Step 1: Create the Metric

The dataset includes a Score field, which I’ll use as the main metric.
To standardise it, I created the following calculated field:

% Max Score = [Score] / 10

This converts the score into a decimal value (e.g., 9.5 → 0.95), making it easier to work with in the gauge chart calculations.

Step 2: Create the Calculations

To construct the gauge, we’ll create several calculated fields that define the different segments of the chart.

Here’s the full list:

Calc 1 = MIN(1)

Calc 2 = IF [% Max Score] < 0.5 THEN [% Max Score] ELSE 0.5 END

Calc 3 = IF [% Max Score] < 0.5 THEN 0.5 - [% Max Score] END

Calc 4 = IF [% Max Score] > 0.5 THEN [% Max Score] - 0.5 END

Calc 5 = IF [% Max Score] > 0.5 THEN 1 - [% Max Score] ELSE 0.5 END

Calc 6 = IF [% Max Score] <= 0.5 THEN 0.005 END

Calc 7 = IF [% Max Score] > 0.5 THEN 0.005 END

These fields control the proportions and segments that make up the gauge visualiation.

Step 3: Build the Donut Chart Base

To build the gauge shape, we’ll first create a donut chart.

1. Type 0 in the Rows shelf and press Enter to create a dummy field.
2. Repeat to create a second one.
3. Change the Marks type to Pie under the All Marks section.
4. Right-click either of the two pills and select Dual Axis.
5. Change the colour of the second pie (in the second Marks card) and reduce its size slightly.

This creates a dual pie setup — the foundation for the gauge effect.

Step 4: Build the Gauge KPI

Now we’ll bring the calculations together.

1. Drag Measure Names to Filters and select only the calculations created in Step 2.
2. Drag Measure Names to Colour and Measure Values to Angle in the All Marks section.
3. Rearrange the calculations in the desired order to create the gauge layout.
4. Adjust the colours to fill the gauge chart correctly (red representing segment filled and grey being unfilled).

Next, create one more field:

Calc 8 = "Calc 88"

Make sure this is enclosed in quotation marks — this makes it a discrete field.

5. Drag Calc 8 to Detail on the second Marks card.
6. Change its mark type to Color to display an arrow or pointer on your gauge.

Step 5: Format and Finalise

Polish your gauge by:

• Aligning it with your dashboard colour scheme
• Adding labels for context (e.g., “#1 Scored Anime”)
• Adjusting the inner circle size to balance the doughnut

Once complete, you’ll have a gauge chart that visually highlights your KPI — perfect for summarizing performance or key metrics in any Tableau dashboard.

Use Cases

While this example uses anime scores, you can easily adapt this technique for:

• Customer satisfaction scores
• Sales performance targets
• Employee engagement ratings
• Any metric that benefits from a clear KPI visualization