diff --git a/app/main.py b/app/main.py
index a41397d..bea3866 100644
--- a/app/main.py
+++ b/app/main.py
@@ -521,6 +521,23 @@ function trendVal(row) {
   return row.requests;
 }
 
+// Y-axis step. Counts are people and things, so their ticks must be whole
+// numbers (a 1.08 headroom factor alone yields labels like 19.17 people).
+// Money gets the classic 1/2/5 x 10^k rounding so ticks read $5.00, not $4.92.
+function niceStep(raw) {
+  if (trendMetric === "spend") {
+    const mag = Math.pow(10, Math.floor(Math.log10(Math.max(raw, 1e-9))));
+    const norm = raw / mag;
+    const nice = norm <= 1 ? 1 : (norm <= 2 ? 2 : (norm <= 5 ? 5 : 10));
+    return nice * mag;
+  }
+  // Counts: whole numbers, rounded up to a half power of ten so ticks read
+  // 3,000 rather than 2,888. Never below 1, so a near-empty series still gets
+  // an integer axis instead of fractions.
+  const p = Math.pow(10, Math.floor(Math.log10(Math.max(raw, 1))));
+  return Math.max(1, Math.ceil(raw / (p / 2)) * (p / 2));
+}
+
 function trendLabel(v) {
   if (v === null || v === undefined) return "not measured";
   if (trendMetric === "spend") return fmt(v);
@@ -544,7 +561,10 @@ function renderTrends() {
   }
   const gaps = vals.length - have.length;
   const maxV = Math.max.apply(null, have);
-  const top = maxV <= 0 ? 1 : maxV * 1.08;   // headroom so the peak clears the frame
+  // Axis top = one round step times four ticks: labels land on round numbers
+  // and the peak still clears the frame.
+  const step = niceStep((maxV <= 0 ? 1 : maxV * 1.08) / 4);
+  const top = step * 4;
 
   const W = 1000, H = 250, padL = 62, padR = 14, padT = 14, padB = 30;
   const plotW = W - padL - padR, plotH = H - padT - padB;
@@ -557,7 +577,7 @@ function renderTrends() {
   parts.push('<svg viewBox="0 0 ' + W + ' ' + H + '" role="img" aria-label="' + conf.title + ' over time">');
   for (let g = 0; g <= 4; g++) {
     const yy = baseY - (plotH * g) / 4;
-    const lab = trendLabel((top * g) / 4);
+    const lab = trendLabel(step * g);
     parts.push('<line x1="' + padL + '" y1="' + yy + '" x2="' + (W - padR) + '" y2="' + yy + '" stroke="var(--border)"/>');
     parts.push('<text x="' + (padL - 8) + '" y="' + (yy + 4) + '" text-anchor="end" font-size="11" fill="var(--muted)">' + lab + '</text>');
   }