diff --git a/models/StatsModel.php b/models/StatsModel.php
index e1fd602..5595794 100644
--- a/models/StatsModel.php
+++ b/models/StatsModel.php
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ class StatsModel
             FROM tickets t WHERE status != 'Closed' AND ($visSQL) GROUP BY priority
             UNION ALL
             SELECT 'status' as type, status as label, COUNT(*) as count
-            FROM tickets t WHERE ($visSQL) GROUP BY status
+            FROM tickets t WHERE status != 'Closed' AND ($visSQL) GROUP BY status
             UNION ALL
             SELECT 'category' as type, category as label, COUNT(*) as count
             FROM tickets t WHERE status != 'Closed' AND ($visSQL) GROUP BY category";
diff --git a/views/DashboardView.php b/views/DashboardView.php
index 4417744..76bc636 100644
--- a/views/DashboardView.php
+++ b/views/DashboardView.php
@@ -280,8 +280,11 @@ include __DIR__ . '/layout_header.php';
   // default: with no `status` param the controller falls back to the viewer's
   // default_status_filters preference, which can be anything, so the resulting
   // list would not necessarily match what the chart counted. StatsModel builds
-  // by_priority and by_category with `status != 'Closed'`, while by_status spans
-  // every status — so only the priority and category charts pin the open set.
+  // by_priority, by_status, and by_category all with `status != 'Closed'` —
+  // closed tickets accumulate indefinitely and would otherwise dominate every
+  // breakdown over time — so chartPriority/chartCategory pin the open set
+  // explicitly, while chartStatus's clicked label is itself already one of
+  // the non-Closed statuses.
   function openStatuses() {
     var all = window.TICKET_STATUSES || ['Open', 'Pending', 'In Progress', 'Closed'];
     return all.filter(function(s) { return s !== 'Closed'; }).join(',');