Online training and education provider Coursera offers a range of data visualization certificate programs for anyone looking to transition to a career in data, hone their skills in data visualization, or specialize in a particular tool or area of the field. Data visualization involves the transformation and presentation of data in charts, plots, infographics, and animations to make it more comprehensible to a wider audience.
A data visualization certification can expand your knowledge and demonstrate your expertise to potential clients or employers—here are our picks for the best certificates available through Coursera for beginners, more advanced professionals, and anyone seeking more specialized training.
Data visualization certificate programs can be accessed through Coursera with a monthly subscription of $59. The table below shows the certifications detailed in this article along with high-level information about who they are most appropriate for and how long you can expect to complete them.
| Certificate | Level | Who It’s For | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| UC Davis Data Visualization with Tableau Specialization |
Entry-Level | Beginners who want to learn Tableau | 1 month/10 hours per week |
| Google Share Data Through the Art of Visualization |
Entry-Level | Aspiring Google data analysts who want to specialize in data reporting | 25 hours |
| IBM Data Visualization with Python | Advanced | Experienced data analysts who want to specialize in data visualization using Python | 19 hours |
| University of Michigan Applied Plotting, Charting & Data Representation in Python |
Advanced | Experienced data analysts who want to specialize in applied plotting, charting, & data representation |
24 hours |
| Macquarie University Data Visualization in Excel |
Advanced | Experienced data analysts who want to specialize in Excel | 17 hours |
| Google Decisions, Decisions: Dashboards and Reports |
Specialty | Working data professionals who want to specialize in Google BI | 27 hours |
| Google Advanced Data Analytics Professional Certificate |
Specialty | Experienced Google data analysts | 6 months/10 hours per week |
| University of Colorado Data Warehousing for Business Intelligence Specialization |
Specialty | BI specialists who want to specialize in data warehousing | 8 months/10 hours per week |
Entry-level data visualization certifications can provide foundational knowledge to those new to the subject while ensuring a baseline of expertise for potential employers. Ideal for aspiring data analysts and data scientists, they typically provide a fundamental understanding of data analysis, experience with visualization tools such as Tableau or Python libraries, and a basic understanding of statistics.
Best for Beginners Who Want to Specialize in Tableau
Coursera and the University of California, Davis Continuing and Professional Education partner for this five-course series in data visualization with Tableau targeted at beginners. Though participants can set their own pace, this online course generally takes about a month to complete. It includes a community forum for participants to interact with other students and alumni to broaden their knowledge and gain insights about course content and materials.
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Best for Specializing in Google Data Analytics Reporting
One of six data analytics courses Google presents through Coursera, Share Data Through the Art of Visualization, consists of four modules that teach data visualization and presentation skills to entry-level learners. This course is a part of the Google Data Analytics Professional certification, in which participants learn to use Tableau to create visuals and dashboards along with effective presentation principles and techniques for dealing with data restrictions. This certificate program prepares students for entry-level data analyst positions that require no previous experience.
Visit Google Course at CourseraAn advanced data visualization certification lets experienced data analysts hone their knowledge and improve their skills in presenting data using different business intelligence (BI) tools. These certifications are designed for data analysts, data scientists, and BI professionals with a background in data analysis. To qualify, you should have at least two to three years of relevant experience, a strong understanding of statistical methods, and proficiency in advanced visualization tools.
Best for Specializing in Data Visualization Using Python
Data Visualization with Python is one of many courses and data analytics certifications IBM provides through Coursera to learners of all levels. This one, offered to experienced data analysts and scientists, will help hone their skills and knowledge and improve their ability to present data in a simplified manner. It consists of hands-on learning using Python libraries such as Matplotlib, Seaborn, Dash, Plotly, and Folium, and gives participants a complete understanding of how to use Python to present interactive dashboards.
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Best for Charting with Matplotlib
The University of Michigan offers its Applied Plotting, Charting and Data Representation in Python certification over four courses that address the fundamentals of data visualization with a focus on reporting and charting with Matplotlib. Participants start with design and information literacy, move up to Matplotlib functionality, and end with discussions on alternative structuring and visualization methods.
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Best for Specializing in Excel Data Visualization
Macquarie University’s Data Visualization in Excel certification course focuses on taking information from big data and efficiently presenting it through precise, visually appealing presentations using Excel. Excel is a powerful tool for visualizations due to its flexibility and wide range of built-in charts and graphs. The course follows Rohan, an environmental analyst, as he navigates numerous datasets and uses Excel’s visualization capabilities to provide trends, forecasts, and comparisons.
Visit Macquarie University Course at CourseraSpecialty certifications are a good way for data professionals to commit to a particular area of expertise. These certifications reflect a dedication to lifelong learning and validate data professionals’ expertise. Specialty certification is best-suited for professionals with extensive knowledge of working with data and who have been working in related roles for five or more years.
Best for Data Professionals Taking Google BI Course
This certification is the final component of Google’s Business Intelligence Professional certification and is designed to help participants understand stakeholder needs, plan and create business intelligence visualizations, and design reporting tools using dashboards. This certification will also teach participants how to build flexible and interactive dashboards that monitor data collected over long periods.
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Best for Specializing in Advanced Data Analytics
Google’s Advanced Data Analytics Professional Certificate is aimed at professionals who want to become all-around data analytics specialists. From collecting, analyzing, and interpreting extremely large amounts of data to creating easily understood visuals from complex datasets, the course teaches data science fundamentals and Python basics. Students will also learn how to translate data into insights as well as the basics of statistical analysis and machine learning. Expert training and hands-on projects teach both theoretical and practical knowledge of data handling and visualization for data-driven business decisions.
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Best for Specializing in Data Warehousing
The University of Colorado’s Data Warehousing for Business Intelligence Specialization focuses on teaching participants to evaluate business needs, develop data warehouses, and integrate and display data using dashboards and analytics. It offers instruction in structured data modeling, SQL coding, and data warehouse architecture, giving hands-on experience creating dashboards and visual analytics from large datasets using MicroStrategy and online analytical processing (OLAP). The capstone project entails developing a basic data warehouse, populating it with data, and designing visualizations to effectively communicate the analysis to stakeholders.
Visit University of Colorado Course at CourseraOrganizations rely on talented data visualization professionals to find insights and make strategic business decisions. From analysts to engineers, these jobs are important in converting data into actionable visual storytelling. Salary ranges vary depending on role, knowledge, experience, location, and skills. The table below lists the salary ranges and averages for each position based on aggregated data from Glassdoor.
| Role | Salary Range | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Data Analyst | $24,959 to $63,426 | $44,876 |
| Junior Data Visualization Designer | $60,000 to $105,000 | $79,000 |
| Data Visualization Analyst | $83,000 to $135,000 | $105,000 |
| Data Visualization Specialist | $55,000 to $135,500 | $99,213 |
| Senior Data Visualization Designer | $85,944 to $145,600 | $93,700 |
| Business Intelligence Analyst | $59,000 to $107,000 | $80,249 |
| Data Visualization Engineer | $44,500 to $177,500 | $129,716 |
As enterprises process increasingly large amounts of data, their need for qualified analysts grows in parallel. Companies of all sizes and across all sectors are currently recruiting skilled data visualization specialists.
This organization dedicated to reimagining the high school experience is focused on ensuring that every student graduates and is prepared to excel in college, the workplace, and the world. While XQ’s primary focus is education transformation, it is hiring data visualization professionals to evaluate educational data, illustrate trends, and inform decision-making.
Visit XQ InstituteTechnology giant Apple collects and analyzes huge volumes of data on user behavior, product performance, and market trends. As a result, it is often hiring data visualization experts and specialists to develop interactive visuals for corporate decision-making, product design, and marketing strategies.
Visit AppleThe Athletic is The New York Times’ subscription-based media outlet dedicated to covering professional sports around the world. It frequently hires sports analytics and data visualization experts to analyze sports data, generate interactive graphics, and improve sports reporting.
Visit The AthleticProvidence Health and Services is a Catholic nonprofit healthcare company that operates hospitals and medical clinics in seven U.S. states. It is hiring data visualization specialists to illustrate patient outcomes, hospital performance, and healthcare trends.
Visit Providence HealthDuke University Libraries play an important role in supporting research, teaching, and learning at Duke University. The school and its libraries employ a large team of individuals to work with data visualization to improve online library services, evaluate scholarly data, and develop academic visualizations.
Visit Duke University LibrariesYes. The demand for this skill is constantly growing alongside the volumes of data organizations rely on, making these roles in-demand and salaries competitive.
Some data visualization requires coding, making knowledge of programming languages such as Python, R, and JavaScript valuable. These languages provide libraries and tools intended expressly for data visualization, which improves the process and allows for customization to meet a variety of needs and preferences of stakeholders.
R is well-known for its statistical analysis capabilities, which makes it popular among researchers and analysts, while Python’s adaptability—demonstrated by vast libraries like Matplotlib and Seaborn—caters to a wide range of visualization requirements across sectors. Scala’s compatibility with Apache Spark and Julia’s emphasis on speed and performance make them excellent alternatives.
Choosing the right data visualization certification depends on what you want to learn and how you hope to apply that knowledge, as well as such other factors as experience level, learning model, cost, and duration. Many organizations need data analysts with visualization skills to clearly communicate complex data insights through visual presentations of charts, graphs, and maps. Coursera provides a wide range of visualization course certifications for all skill levels, from beginners to advanced data professionals. The right one for you is the one that fits your current skillset, provides the expertise you want to learn, and works with your schedule and budget.
If you’re interested in data visualization, read our expert analysis about the trends and predictions for where the field is going and how emerging technologies and business requirements are driving it.
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