Map

See maps in action

Explore an interactive demo dashboard with scatter maps, area maps, and heatmaps.

Maps display geographic data on an interactive map. They support three visualization modes:

• Scatter - Plot individual points using latitude/longitude coordinates
• Area (Choropleth) - Color regions based on values
• Heatmap - Show density of points as a heat overlay

Maps are useful when:

• Visualizing geographic distribution of data
• Showing regional performance or metrics
• Displaying location-based patterns

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Scatter maps

Scatter maps plot individual data points on a map using latitude and longitude coordinates. You can optionally size and color the points based on field values.

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Data requirements

Your data must include latitude and longitude coordinates. If your data contains addresses instead of coordinates, you’ll need to geocode them to latitude/longitude values using a third-party geocoding service before using them in a map.

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Layout options

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Display options

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Area maps (Choropleth)

Area maps color geographic regions based on data values. You can use built-in region shapes for countries or US states, or provide custom GeoJSON for other boundaries.

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Data requirements

• Country codes - ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes (e.g., “USA”, “GBR”) for world maps
• US state codes - State abbreviations (e.g., “CA”, “NY”) for US maps
• Custom identifiers - Any identifier that matches a property in your custom GeoJSON file

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Layout options

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Using custom GeoJSON

When you enable Custom region, you can provide a URL to any GeoJSON file that defines your region boundaries. After entering the URL, Lightdash loads the available properties from the GeoJSON and displays them in the Map join field dropdown. Select the property that contains values matching your data. For example, if your GeoJSON has a postal_code property and your data has a zip_code field:

1. Enable Custom region and enter your GeoJSON URL
2. Select postal_code from the Map join field dropdown
3. Select your zip_code field as the Data join field

Custom GeoJSON URL requirements

Lightdash fetches custom GeoJSON files through a server-side proxy that enforces the following requirements:

• The URL must use HTTPS.
• The file path must end in .json, .geojson, or .topojson.
• The file must be 10 MB or smaller and the host must respond within 30 seconds.
• The host must be a public address. URLs that resolve to private, loopback, link-local, multicast, or carrier-grade NAT IP ranges are rejected.
• Redirects are not followed. Host your file at a stable URL that responds with 200 OK directly.

If a URL fails these checks, the Map join field dropdown stays empty and the chart shows an error. Re-upload the file to a public HTTPS host (for example, a CDN or object storage bucket with public read access) and try again.

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Display options

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Heatmaps

Heatmaps show the density of points as a heat overlay, useful for visualizing concentration of data points across geographic areas.

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Data requirements

Your data must include latitude and longitude coordinates. If your data contains addresses instead of coordinates, you’ll need to geocode them to latitude/longitude values using a third-party geocoding service before using them in a map.

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Layout options

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Display options