How to Rotate X-Axis Labels in a Pandas Plot

DataPlotPlus -

To rotate the X-axis tick labels in a Pandas plot, you can use 3 different ways:

  • df.plot(kind='bar', rot=0) - pass the parameter to plot functions applied to DataFrame
  • ax.set_xticklabels(df['Month'], rotation=45) - by using additional method applied on plot object
  • plt.xticks(rotation=90)
  • fig.autofmt_xdate()

In all of them we can pass the rotation parameter to specify the angle by which you want to rotate the X labels. Depending on your plot and needs you can use them

Below you can find two examples of the most used by me:

Steps to plot 2 variables

  • Import matplotlib library
  • Create sample DataFrame
  • Create the axes object (optional)
    • ax = df.plot(x='Month', y='Sales', kind='bar')
  • Rotate X-axis tick labels by 45 degrees
  • Add labels and title (optional)

More information can be found: DataFrame.plot - secondary_y

Data

s1 s2
variables
alpha 1 9
beta 3 7
gamma 4 6
delta 2 8

Example 1 - rot=0

import matplotlib
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import pandas as pd
data = {'variables':["alpha","beta","gamma","delta"], 
        's1':[1,3,4,2], 
        's2':[9,7,6,8]}
df = pd.DataFrame(data)

df.set_index(["variables"],inplace=True)
df.plot(kind='bar', rot=0)
plt.xlabel("")
plt.show()

Output 1

Example 2 - set_xticklabels

import pandas as pd
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Sample data
data = {'Month': ['January', 'February', 'March', 'April', 'May'],
        'Sales': [100, 120, 80, 90, 110]}

df = pd.DataFrame(data)

# Create a plot
ax = df.plot(x='Month', y='Sales', kind='bar')

# Rotate X-axis tick labels by 45 degrees
ax.set_xticklabels(df['Month'], rotation=45)

# Add labels and title
plt.xlabel('Month')
plt.ylabel('Sales')
plt.title('Monthly Sales')

# Show the plot
plt.show()

Output 2

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