The increasing demand for real-time analytics and faster decision-making is driving Power BI adoption across sectors, from small businesses to large enterprises. One of the most important aspects of modern data is location and
spatial intelligence — that is where the combination of Power BI and ESRI GIS tools becomes even more powerful. Tabular and geographic data – the best of both worlds
Have you ever looked at your business data and thought, “Wouldn’t it be great to put this on a map without having to search for addresses and geocode every record?” I certainly have! Fortunately, ArcGIS for Power BI lets you join layers so you can enable spatial intelligence for your business data. Enriching your data with location information allows for deeper analysis, better understanding, and more polished reporting.
You can use a layer join to attach additional information to your original data so it can be analyzed in a single map layer. A layer join combines two separate tables using a shared attribute. This shared key determines which fields attach to which records. All you need to get started is a reference layer with location information, such as an address or postal code, and your Power BI data.
ArcGIS for Power BI
ArcGIS for Power BI is an integration tool that allows Microsoft Power BI to connect with ArcGIS, a powerful geographic information system (GIS). This connection enables geographic data visualization and analysis directly in Power BI, using ArcGIS's advanced mapping and spatial visualization capabilities.
To get started
Power BI for Desktop is free (
download and install it here), but to use ArcGIS for Power BI you need an ArcGIS Online or Enterprise account. We’ll assume you have this through your company or organization.When you have georeferenced data
When your dataset already contains latitude and longitude fields, putting it into ArcGIS for Power BI is very simple — just place the field in the correct location as shown above.
First, you need your tabular data in a table, whether Excel, a database, or another format, imported into Power BI (
click here if you are not sure). You also need a layer in ArcGIS Online with spatial features and at least one common field, known as the primary key, such as OBJECTID or another value to connect the data.In Power BI, add the table you want to spatialize or visualize on the map
- In Power BI, add the ArcGIS for Power BI visual (APBI) to your report (click and drag).
- With APBI selected, on the right side panel drag the common field (primary key) to the location labeled “Join Layer.”
- Source: Esri Blog
- Choose “My organization” and find the layer that contains the primary key field used to join with your tabular data.
- Select it and click Done.
- Now click the three dots and choose Join Layer from the menu.
- Source: Esri Blog
- Source: Esri Blog
- Create Join and you’re done. Your data is now connected. Add a table with your tabular data in Power BI and, when you click a row, the map will zoom to the selected record.
- Explore the tool options in the Power BI side panels. There are many useful settings hidden there.
- Source: Translated and adapted from
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