How to Normalize Numeric Values in Builder

Overview

When working with polygon data layers in CARTO, normalization is an important cartographic practice for creating meaningful visualizations. Data can be normalized by area, by total values like population, or by other thematic attributes.

Normalization by Area

To normalize a column value by its area, use a SQL query with the ST_Area PostGIS function:

SELECT
  *,
  numeric_column/ST_Area(the_geom) as norm_column
FROM
  table

This approach divides your numeric column by the geographic area of each polygon, producing standardized values that account for size differences across your dataset.