DISTANCE

Calculate the straight-line distance between two geographic coordinates.

Use DISTANCE when you need to measure how far apart two locations are: calculating delivery zones, finding nearby stores, charging based on distance, or filtering options by proximity.

How it works

DISTANCE(lat1, lng1, lat2, lng2)
DISTANCE(lat1, lng1, lat2, lng2, unit)

• lat1 - Latitude of first location (number between -90 and 90)

• lng1 - Longitude of first location (number between -180 and 180)

• lat2 - Latitude of second location

• lng2 - Longitude of second location

• unit - Optional. Unit for the result: "m" (meters), "km" (kilometers), "mi" (miles), "ft" (feet). Defaults to "m"

Returns the distance as a number in the specified unit. Uses the Haversine formula to calculate straight-line distance across the Earth's surface.

Examples

Distance between two cities

Calculate kilometers between Amsterdam and Paris.

DISTANCE(52.3676, 4.9041, 48.8566, 2.3522, "km")

Returns approximately 430 kilometers.

Delivery fee based on distance

Charge €5 plus €0.50 per kilometer from your warehouse.

WAREHOUSE_LAT = 52.0907
WAREHOUSE_LNG = 5.1214
CUSTOMER_DISTANCE = DISTANCE(WAREHOUSE_LAT, WAREHOUSE_LNG, CUSTOMER_LAT, CUSTOMER_LNG, "km")
DELIVERY_FEE = 5 + (CUSTOMER_DISTANCE * 0.50)

Calculates custom delivery charges based on actual distance.

Find nearby locations

Show only stores within 25 miles of the customer.

STORES | FILTER(STORE: 
  DISTANCE(CUSTOMER_LAT, CUSTOMER_LNG, STORE_LAT, STORE_LNG, "mi") < 25
)

Filters your store list to only nearby options.

Service area check

Determine if a customer is within your 50km service radius.

DISTANCE_TO_CUSTOMER = DISTANCE(OFFICE_LAT, OFFICE_LNG, CUSTOMER_LAT, CUSTOMER_LNG, "km")

IF(DISTANCE_TO_CUSTOMER

Common mistakes

• Swapping latitude and longitude - Latitude comes first, longitude second. Amsterdam is (52.37, 4.90) not (4.90, 52.37)

• Expecting driving distance - DISTANCE is straight-line only. Actual road distance will be longer

• Forgetting unit quotes - Use "km" not km for the unit parameter

• Invalid coordinates - Latitude must be -90 to 90, longitude -180 to 180

• Missing decimal precision - Use enough decimals for accuracy (52.3676 not just 52)

Understanding units

Available distance units:

• "m" - Meters (default)

• "km" - Kilometers

• "mi" - Miles

• "ft" - Feet

If you omit the unit parameter, DISTANCE returns meters.