Adjust the width of box in boxplot in Python Matplotlib

In Python Matplotlib, you can adjust the width of boxes in a boxplot using the widths parameter in the boxplot() method. This allows you to create boxes of different sizes for better visualization and comparison.

Steps

• Set the figure size and adjust the padding between and around the subplots
• Create sample data using Pandas DataFrame
• Use the boxplot() method with the widths parameter to adjust box dimensions
• Display the plot using the show() method

Example

Here's how to create a boxplot with different box widths ?

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.rcParams["figure.figsize"] = [7.50, 3.50]
plt.rcParams["figure.autolayout"] = True

# Create sample data
data = pd.DataFrame({
    "Box1": np.random.rand(10), 
    "Box2": np.random.rand(10)
})

# Create boxplot with different widths
ax = plt.boxplot(data, widths=(0.25, 0.5))

plt.show()

Customizing Box Widths

You can specify different widths for each box by passing a tuple or list to the widths parameter ?

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Create sample data with three columns
data = pd.DataFrame({
    "Narrow": np.random.normal(0, 1, 20),
    "Medium": np.random.normal(2, 1.5, 20), 
    "Wide": np.random.normal(1, 2, 20)
})

# Create boxplot with custom widths
plt.figure(figsize=(8, 5))
plt.boxplot(data, widths=[0.2, 0.5, 0.8])
plt.title('Boxplot with Custom Box Widths')
plt.ylabel('Values')

plt.show()

Parameters

Output

Conclusion

Use the widths parameter in boxplot() to control box dimensions. Pass a tuple or list with width values for each box to create visually distinct comparisons in your data visualization.