How to calculate area on Google Maps
When you use Google Maps for navigation, it gives you an accurate measure of how far you’ll be traveling. The distance is not vector distance; it takes into account the route you’ll be taking. It stands to reason that if Google Maps can accurately measure distance, it should also be able to measure the area of a place. All you need is the right tool for the job and the tool is built into Google Maps. Here’s how you can calculate the area on Google Maps from your desktop.
Calculate area on Google Maps
Visit Google Maps and pan to the place you want to calculate the area for. Make sure you can see the roads or the edges of the place you want to find the area for. Right-click anywhere on the map and from the context menu, select the ‘Measure Distance’ option.
Once you do that, the path marking tool in Google Maps will activate. Go ahead and trace the boundaries of the place you want to calculate the area for. Click at the corners and bends and mark it until the path is complete and closed. A popup at the bottom will appear when you activate the tool and as you trace a path, it will update with the distance of the path. When you close the path, this popup will also show you a new measurement for the area that the path encloses. The area is given in both square miles and square kilometers.
Generally speaking, this area is going to be accurate, however, if you’re marking roads you’re already giving Google Maps more area to calculate than is actually part of a particular location. To work around this, you will have to zoom in further until you can see the boundaries and then mark them. Google Maps doesn’ t force you to mark just roads. Its path marking tool is for making routes and these routes can very well be off-road if you need them to be.
While this is going to be accurate, you probably will not be able to use it for legal purposes. For general, non-legally binding purposes though, you should be good. This tool is fairly old. It’s not publicized much and you won’t hear about it unless you’re looking for walking routes or hiking trails. You can also measure the area on Google Maps from its mobile apps. Drop a pin at the starting point of where you’d like to start measuring from, and then open the details panel for the pin. You will see a ‘Measure distance’ option. Use it to create a path and calculate the area.
