13 Best Data Visualization Courses for 2024

According to IBM, data visualization skills are some of the fastest-growing analytical skills in terms of market demand. And it’s easy to see why. Data visualizations allow data scientists to turn complex findings into compelling graphs that can be understood by non-technical stakeholders. 

So whether you want to become a data analyst or leverage the power of data in your current role, taking a data visualization course will help you turn your average bar graph into a persuasive tool for driving business decisions. 

However, with the sheer amount of courses available on this topic, finding the right one for you can be a struggle. To help provide a good starting point for your search, we’ve compiled this comprehensive list of the best data visualization courses.

How Important Is a Data Visualization Course?

They’re not just important—they’re essential. Data visualization courses can not only teach you how to make charts and graphs but also help you design more compelling data visualizations to help convey your message to your audience.  

13 Best Data Visualization Courses

Here are our top 13 data visualization courses. 

Data Analytics Career Track – Springboard

Rating

Course Report: 4.64 out of 5 (1,295 ratings)

Overview

If you’re interested in becoming a data analyst, Springboard’s Data Analytics Career Track can do more than just teach you about data visualization. This course is designed to take you through every step of the analysis process, from developing your structured thinking and business problem-solving skills to connecting data with SQL and visualizing it with Python. After graduation, you’ll be ready for your first entry-level position as a data analyst.

Related Read: What Does a Data Analyst Do?

To help you on your learning journey, Springboard provides 1:1 mentoring with industry professionals and expert career coaches. From technical questions to practice for your first data analytics interview, you’ll have everything you need to get the most out of your time on the course. 

Best For

This career track course is aimed at workers in the professional sector who are looking for a career change, and the course requires at least two years of experience working with office, design, or programming tools. If you don’t meet these requirements, you can take Springboard’s “Introduction to Analytics” prep course to catch up.

Duration

The course requires a commitment of 20-25 hours per week for six months, but the schedule is flexible, and 1:1 calls can be arranged when it suits you. 

Price

When paid upfront, the discounted price of the course is $8,500. There are also monthly, credit loan, and deferred tuition options that allow you to pay over time. 

Data Visualization With Tableau Specialization – UC Davis on Coursera

Rating

Coursera: 4.5 out of 5 (6,172 ratings)

Overview

The UC Davis University of California offers a data visualization course focusing on the visualization tool Tableau. You can learn everything you need to know about the different features of this software and use it to prepare data and conduct exploratory data analysis before designing your own effective visualizations and dashboard designs. 

Best For

While aimed at beginners in the area of data visualization, this course expects students to be comfortable working with data. If you have no programming experience or experience gathering, cleaning, or analyzing data, a course that begins with these skills might be better for you. 

Duration

The suggested pace for this course is three hours per week for six months, but you are free to study more or less than that a week if you choose. 

Price

Courses on Coursera can be audited for free. This grants you access to all of the course material and allows you to complete the projects free of charge, but if you want to earn a certificate for completing the course, you’ll need to subscribe for $39 a month.

Data Science: Visualization – Harvard University on Edx

Rating

Trustpilot: 3.4 out of 5 (1,264 ratings)

Overview

EdX teamed up with Harvard University to create its data visualization course. Focusing on the programming language R, the curriculum will take you through the basic principles of data visualization and presenting your findings, as well as using ggplot2—a data visualization software for R—to create custom plots.

Best For

You can take this course even as a total beginner. All you need is a computer with an up-to-date browser and an internet connection. The curriculum is completely self-paced, so even if you have a part-time or full-time job, you can enroll and study according to your own schedule. 

Duration

The course is designed to be completed in eight weeks, with one or two hours per week.

Price

Some of the course’s materials can be audited for free, but the full price of the program is $149.

Data Visualization Nanodegree – Udacity

Rating

Course Report: 4.72 out of 5 (611 ratings)

Overview

Udacity’s data visualization course covers a range of data visualization techniques, such as using common plot types such as bar charts, scatter plots, box plots, bubble plots, regression plots, and pie graphs to create easy-to-comprehend dashboards with Tableau. As well as visualizing data, you will also learn data storytelling and how to present findings in an engaging and persuasive way using color schemes and visualization theory.

The course mixes self-paced learning with 1:1 feedback by using a team of over 1,400 professional project reviewers and technical mentors to respond to your inquiries. You can ask a question at any time using Udacity’s messaging platform and receive an answer within an hour. 

Best For

This course is aimed at students who already have basic practical skills in visual data analysis and is perfect if you need both a flexible schedule and personalized guidance.

Duration

The estimated duration of the course is four months at 10 hours per week. 

Price

The standard price for this course is $1356 for four months of access to the course materials, or $399 per month.

Understanding Data Visualization – Datacamp

Rating

Course Report: 4.15 out of 5 (87 ratings)

Overview

This mini online course on Datacamp is part of the Data Analyst Track. Over the course of 14 videos and 43 exercises, you’ll learn how to avoid common pitfalls when visualizing data to make sure your dashboards and bar graphs convey the story to your audience. The exercises Power BI and real-life datasets on a variety of topics, such as the greatest hip-hop songs of all time and fatty acids in olive oil, to give you hands-on experience working with data. 

Best For

This short course is suitable for anyone interested in gaining a basic knowledge of data visualization techniques and best practices.

Duration

The 14 videos and 43 exercises of this program take two hours on average to complete. 

Price

You can get full access to this course by subscribing to Datacamp for $25 a month, billed annually. 

Data Visualization Certification – freeCodeCamp

Rating

Indeed: 4.7 out of 5 (117 ratings)

Overview

The free data visualization certification at freeCodeCamp uses the JavaScript library D3 to create interactive data visualizations in browsers. It doesn’t cover any visualization software like Microsoft Excel, Tableau, or Power BI.

The course ends with five hands-on projects that require you to do everything from fetching the data to creating a range of visualizations, including bar charts, scatterplot graphs, heat maps, choropleth maps, and treemap diagrams.

Best For

freeCodeCamp is a non-profit organization, and all its content is free, making it a perfect place for beginners to test out different areas of programming and find what suits them. 

Duration

The course contains 29 modules and five data visualization projects for you to complete. 

Price

Full access to this course is free of charge, but we recommend making a free account to save your progress.

Tableau 2022 A-Z: Hands-On Tableau Training for Data Science – Kirill Eremenko on Udemy

Rating

Trustpilot: 2.4 out of 5 (964 ratings)

Overview

The Tableau training course is suitable for complete beginners and teaches you the fundamentals of visualization with Tableau. Starting with the basic concepts of datasets and what Tableau is used for, the course then progresses to visual elements such as maps, scatterplots, interactive visualization, and dashboards.

You can progress through the curriculum by watching video lectures and participating in quizzes at the end of each section, making the course completely self-paced and flexible. 

Best For

Anyone from interested individuals to managers can take this course to help form a basic knowledge of Tableau software. 

Duration

With 10 sections and 82 video lectures, this online course takes an average of nine hours to complete. 

Price

The full price of the course is $99, paid for upfront. 

Visualize Data With Python – Codecademy

Rating

Trustpilot: 4.2 out of 5 (1,365 ratings)

Overview

On Codecademy, you can learn techniques for visualizing data using Python and visualization libraries such as Pandas, Seaborn, and MatPlotLib. The course teaches the skills you need to level up from Microsoft Excel and create visualizations more quickly and efficiently.

The course is delivered through video lectures and quizzes and culminates in two capstone projects that you can use in your professional portfolio. 

Best For

This program is perfect for professionals who want to improve their data visualization skills and learn to use more powerful tools than Microsoft Excel. Beginners are welcome, so you can master these techniques from scratch if you don’t have any prior experience. 

Duration

The course takes an average of 6 weeks to complete. 

Price

This course costs $179.88 altogether and is bought by subscribing to Codecademy for one year at $14.99 a month. While you have an active subscription, you also have access to all other Pro courses on the platform.

Learning Data Visualization – Bill Shander on LinkedIn Learning

Rating

G2: 4.4 out of 5 (563 ratings)

Overview

Suitable for beginners, this course teaches you how to use data to craft valuable insights and highlight statistics to strengthen the story you want to tell. It’s a self-paced course available both on desktop and mobile, using a range of video lectures and quizzes to deliver the content.

Best For

This course focuses on telling a story with your data visualizations to help your audience understand your point and feel persuaded to act according to your recommendations. If you’re learning data analytics and feel less than confident in this area, this could be a good extra resource for you.

Duration

The duration of this course is three hours and 49 minutes. 

Price

This short course can be completed using LinkedIn Learning’s month-long free trial or paid for with a $39.99 monthly subscription.

Data Visualization With Python – IBM on Coursera

Rating

Coursera: 4.5 out of 5 (10,357 ratings)

Overview

Using Python and a number of its data visualization libraries, this course teaches you how to create a range of visual elements for telling stories with data. Some of the types of data visualizations covered include:

• Bar plots
• Pie charts
• Waffle charts
• Word clouds
• Regression Plots
• Maps with markers
• Choropleth maps
• Scatter charts
• Bubble plots
• Sunburst charts

Best For

This course is not suitable for beginners and requires a working knowledge of the Python programming language. If you’re feeling limited by the number of visualization techniques you know and want to expand your knowledge, this course could be useful for you. 

Duration

The entire course should take around 17 hours to complete.

Price

You can audit this course for free or pay for a Coursera subscription to receive a certificate upon completion. 

Excel Skills for Data Analytics and Visualization Specialization – Macquarie University on Coursera

Rating

Coursera: 4.8 out of 5 (1,820 ratings)

Overview

In this course provided by Macquarie University, you’ll learn how to use advanced Excel functions, creative visualizations, and automation features to transform, link, and analyze data.  By the end of the course, you’ll have the expertise you need not only to apply visualization principles in Excel but also to begin using Power BI to take your data analytics skills to the next level.

Best For

This course is perfect for working professionals who want to leverage the power of data for their everyday work needs. Using the widely available software Microsoft Excel, anyone can handle and visualize data whenever they need to.

Duration

At the suggested pace of three hours per week, this course can be completed in four months. 

Price

Audit this course for free or pay for a certificate for $39.99 a month. 

Data Storytelling for Business – StoryIQ

Rating

Facebook: 4.9 out of 5 (31 ratings)

Overview

The Data Storytelling course from StoryIQ doesn’t just teach you how to create a bar chart in certain software but how to design a bar chart that’s easy to read, highlights your focal piece of data, and helps you tell your story.

Rather than focusing on the technical side of things, this course helps you to perfect your presentation skills and draw your audience’s attention to what really matters. 

Best For

This workshop takes place online at a set time, so you’ll need to set aside time to participate. It’s aimed at professionals who already use data in their day-to-day lives and want to enhance their skills.

Duration

The course consists of three sessions, each lasting three and a half hours. 

Price

The price of this workshop is approximately $230.

Data Visualization With Python for Beginners – Maximilian Schallwig on Udemy

Rating

Trustpilot: 2.4 out of 5 (964 ratings)

Overview

Software like Power BI, Excel, and Tableau are popular ways to visualize data, but it can also be done using Python and visualization libraries. This involves writing your visualization designs into your code, and it can help you create tables, graphs, and charts with greater speed and efficiency. 

Best For

You’ll need to understand some fundamental concepts in Python to be able to take this course, as it involves visualizing data right in your code rather than using the software.

Duration

The course is broken up into six sections and has 56 video lectures totaling nine and a half hours of content. 

Price

It costs $35 to buy this course. 

How Do You Choose a Data Visualization Course?

Now that we’ve introduced our favorite courses, we also have some tips to share to help you choose the best course for you.

Curriculum

As you can see from our 13 different courses, prerequisites and curriculum content can vary. A lot of sites allow you to view, download, or request a detailed syllabus of their offerings, so make sure to read it before you sign up. 

Quality and Expertise of Instructors

The best kind of instructor for an online data visualization course has used the methods they’re teaching in a professional environment themselves. This makes them not only an expert in the software or the programming language but also in the career that they’re trying to break into. 

Reviews and Ratings

Finding out what other people think of a course before you sign up is standard practice to make sure you’re getting the quality you expect. 

Cost

There are many different kinds of courses aimed at people with different goals, and prices can vary significantly. When you’re considering a longer course, we recommend looking into its price in comparison with other similar offerings and different payment options. 

Time Commitment

It’s also important to remember that not all online courses are completely flexible. You may not have to get on a bus and travel anywhere, but in some cases, you will need to be at the computer on certain days at certain times. Always make sure your schedule and the course schedule will work together and still leave you time for hobbies and errands in between. 

Projects and Practical Experience

If you’re trying to break into the data analysis field from a different area, choosing a course with hands-on projects is a great way to gain useful experience and build a professional portfolio you can show to prospective employers. 

Making the Most Out of Your Data Visualization Course

Consider these questions to make the most out of your data visualization course:

How Does the Course Work?

Most online courses are delivered through video lectures, quizzes, and practical projects. For fully self-paced courses, live classes and peer discussion will be avoided, but some full-time and part-time courses will have a schedule of live sessions you’ll need to attend in order to pass. 

What Should You Expect To Learn During a Data Visualization Course?

Data visualization is one of the last steps in the data analysis process, as you’ve already fetched the data, prepared it, formatted it, and analyzed it. Some courses will cover or touch on some of these earlier steps, but it’s not guaranteed. 

What Will Your Schedule Look Like?

If you look out for the term “self-paced” when browsing courses, you’ll be able to see which courses have schedules and which don’t. Many courses are flexible, but this often means you can change a deadline if you need to, or there are some other elements you can schedule yourself, but it doesn’t mean you’re completely free to do what you want. 

Part-time courses with live teaching sessions usually have a weekday evening schedule or a weekend schedule.

FAQs About Data Visualization Courses

We’ve got the answers to your most frequently asked questions:

Since you’re here…
Interested in a career in data analytics? You will be after scanning this data analytics salary guide. When you’re serious about getting a job, look into our 40-hour Intro to Data Analytics Course for total beginners, or our mentor-led Data Analytics Bootcamp.