March 5, 2020

How to Calculate Percent of Total in Tableau: Four Ways

By Luke Stanke

In this episode of Tableau 360, we’ll look at four ways to calculate percent-of-total. There are two table calculations and two level-of-detail calculations.

Here are the four ways:

Table Calculation #1: TOTAL()

				
					// Percent of Total - TOTAL() 
SUM([Measure])/TOTAL(SUM([Measure]))
				
			

Pros: Works for any set of measures and dimensions for that measure.

Cons: You have to configure your Table Calculation every time you add it to a visualization.

Table Calculation #2: WINDOW_SUM()

				
					// Percent of Total - TOTAL() 
SUM([Measure])/WINDOW_SUM(SUM([Measure]))
				
			

Pros: Works for any set of measures and dimensions for that measure. Effectively works the same as TOTAL().

Cons: You have to configure your Table Calculation every time you add it to a visualization.

Level-of-Detail #1: {FIXED}

				
					// Percent of Total - TOTAL() 
SUM([Measure])/SUM({FIXED [Dimension]: SUM([Measure])})
				
			

Pros: Will create any percent-of-total calculation for the [Dimension] specified in the denominator. If you are looking for percent-of-total based the overall total in your data set you can use {SUM([Measure])}.

Cons: The denominator will only ever be the dimension specified in the denominator.

Level-of-Detail #2: {EXCLUDE}

				
					// Percent of Total - TOTAL() 
SUM([Measure])/SUM({EXCLUDE [Dimension]: SUM([Measure])})
				
			

Pros: Will create a percent-of-total calculation across any set of dimensions for the [Dimension] on the view.

Cons: The numerator will only ever be the the dimension specified in the denominator and this dimension must be on the view in the visualization.

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