How to display the count over the bar in Matplotlib histogram?

To display the count over the bar in matplotlib histogram, we can iterate each patch and use text() method to place the values over the patches.

Steps

• Set the figure size and adjust the padding between and around the subplots.
• Make a list of numbers to make a histogram plot.
• Use hist() method to make histograms.
• Iterate the patches and calculate the mid-values of each patch and height of the patch to place a text.
• To display the figure, use show() method.

Example

Here's how to add count labels above each bar in a histogram ?

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

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

data = [3, 5, 1, 7, 9, 5, 3, 7, 5]
_, _, patches = plt.hist(data, align="mid")

for pp in patches:
    x = (pp._x0 + pp._x1)/2
    y = pp._y1 + 0.05
    plt.text(x, y, int(pp._y1))

plt.show()

How It Works

The hist() method returns three values: counts, bin edges, and patches. We iterate through the patches to find each bar's position and height ?

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Sample data
data = [1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5]
counts, bins, patches = plt.hist(data, bins=5, edgecolor='black')

# Add count labels on top of each bar
for i, patch in enumerate(patches):
    # Get the x-coordinate (center of the bar)
    x = patch.get_x() + patch.get_width() / 2
    # Get the y-coordinate (height of the bar)
    height = patch.get_height()
    # Add text label
    plt.text(x, height + 0.1, str(int(height)), 
             ha='center', va='bottom', fontweight='bold')

plt.title('Histogram with Count Labels')
plt.xlabel('Values')
plt.ylabel('Frequency')
plt.show()

Alternative Method Using Annotations

You can also use annotate() for more control over the text positioning ?

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

data = [2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6]
counts, bins, patches = plt.hist(data, bins=4, alpha=0.7, color='skyblue')

for i, (count, patch) in enumerate(zip(counts, patches)):
    # Get bar center and height
    x = patch.get_x() + patch.get_width() / 2
    y = patch.get_height()
    
    # Annotate with count
    plt.annotate(str(int(count)), 
                xy=(x, y), 
                xytext=(0, 5),  # 5 points offset
                textcoords='offset points', 
                ha='center', va='bottom',
                fontsize=12, fontweight='bold')

plt.title('Histogram with Annotated Counts')
plt.show()

Key Points

• patch.get_x() and patch.get_width() help find the bar's center position
• patch.get_height() gives the bar's height (count value)
• Use ha='center' and va='bottom' to center-align text above bars
• Add small offset to y-coordinate to prevent text from touching the bar

Conclusion

Use plt.text() or plt.annotate() to display counts above histogram bars. Calculate the center position of each bar and place the text slightly above the bar height for clear visibility.