Intermediatedistribution
Box Plot
Summarize a distribution with five statistics: min, Q1, median, Q3, max.
Quick Facts
Complexity
intermediate
Category
distribution
Box Plot · Example Data
When to use a Box Plot
- Comparing distributions across multiple groups
- Showing spread, skewness, and outliers simultaneously
- Statistical reporting where quartiles are meaningful
- When you have too many groups for individual histograms
About the Box Plot
A box plot (also called a box-and-whisker plot) compactly shows the distribution of data using five summary statistics. The box spans the interquartile range (IQR: Q1 to Q3), with a line at the median. Whiskers extend to the minimum and maximum values (or 1.5×IQR), and outliers are shown as individual points.
Box plots are especially powerful when comparing distributions across multiple groups side by side. They pack more statistical information than a histogram and scale well when comparing many groups.