Hexagonal Binning

Hexagonal binning is a spatial aggregation method that overlays a tessellation of equal-area hexagons onto a map and counts (or averages) the data points falling within each cell. The resulting hexagonal choropleth reveals spatial density patterns without the visual distortion inherent in irregular administrative boundaries or the axis-alignment bias of rectangular grids.

Hexagons tile a plane with less edge distortion than squares. Each hexagon has six equidistant neighbors (versus four for squares), which produces smoother gradients and more intuitive visual patterns. The uniform neighbor distance also simplifies spatial statistics—every adjacent cell is the same distance from the center cell, eliminating diagonal-distance artifacts. Uber's H3 hierarchical hexagonal grid has popularized the approach by providing a global, multi-resolution hexagonal index that scales from city blocks to continents.

Mobility dataMobility DataMobility data consists of anonymized location observations from mobile devices that capture how people move through g... providers aggregate device observations into hexagonal bins to report foot traffic density while preserving privacy—individual device locations are never exposed. Crime analysts use hexagonal binning to identify hot spots without the boundary artifacts of precinct-based maps. Environmental scientists bin species observations to map biodiversity density. Logistics firms visualize delivery density to optimize route planning. Hexagonal binning has become a standard tool in modern location intelligence, offering an elegant balance between spatial resolutionSpatial ResolutionSpatial resolution defines the size of the smallest feature or ground area that can be distinguished in a spatial dat..., visual clarity, and privacy-preserving aggregation.