Radius Maps Tool: Draw a Circle with a Radius on a Map

A radius map tool allows you to create custom radius maps with only a few clicks. You can immediately create an Excel report for your location that describes the demographics and locations within your search distance.

How to Create a Radius Map

This interactive map lets you see draw a circle of any radius. See the hospitals within any radius of any location in the U.S.

  1. Zoom or pan to a location of interest.
  2. Click the Circle Circle Tool tool to enable it.
  3. Click on the map, enter a radius value, choose the units, and click OK.

To save your radius map, add your own markers/locations in bulk, and much more, try the full-featured version of Maptitude with a 1-month risk-free trial. No credit card is required

Get access to radius tools, drive time radius tools, and many more advanced features by signing up for a free trial today!

In this article:

What is radius mapping software?

Radius mapping software is a tool that allows users to create and visualize maps of geographical areas based on a specified radius or distance from a central point. ZIP Code radius maps are an excellent way to explore and show market and trade areas.

You can also create driving radius maps showing the fastest time rings or the shortest distance rings. Use these maps to identify how far customers are willing to travel to your stores or to find locations that are underserved by emergency services.

Create radius maps around one or more locations and estimate the populations within those radii

Create radius maps around one or more locations and estimate the populations within those radii

Example of radius mapping software

An example of radius mapping software is Maptitude. You can use Maptitude to draw a radius on a map or you can use consulting services to create custom radius maps.

Maptitude has a powerful mile radius calculator that you can use to quickly determine the closest locations to a list of origins or to determine the travel costs between them (more...).

Maptitude ships with the most accurate ZIP Codes and street maps available, ensuring that your results enable you to make vastly improved business decisions than by using spreadsheets alone.

Matt Myers

“Affordable, easy to use, but powerful”

“I work in Real Estate market analysis. Maptitude has many tools for demographic and location analysis. I can pull population data within drive bands, radius, or various other ways. I create awesome visual maps that clients love. I have also done little more complex retail gravity huff model for regional shopping centres.”

Matt Myers
Sr Managing Director, Real Estate

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What are the benefits of radius mapping software?

The benefits of radius mapping software are that an analyst can better understand, analyze, visualize, and optimize data for business decisions.

Top 5 benefits of radius mapping software

  1. Understanding spatial patterns and relationships: Radius mapping software can help users understand the spatial patterns and relationships between different locations, such as the distribution of businesses or population densities within a certain radius of a city center.
  2. Analyzing data: Radius mapping software can be used to analyze data, such as demographics or economic indicators, within a specific geographical area. This can be useful for market research, planning, and decision-making purposes.
  3. Visualizing data: Radius mapping software can create visually appealing and easy-to-understand maps that can help users communicate and present data effectively.
  4. Planning and decision-making: Radius mapping software can be used to inform planning and decision-making by helping users understand the potential impacts of their actions on a specific area.
  5. Optimizing routes and logistics: Radius mapping software can be used to optimize routes and logistics by identifying the most efficient or cost-effective way to deliver goods or services to a specific area.
Map with customers filtered and highlighted based on whether they are within a certain radius of a store

Filter map features by radius

What are the different types of radius maps?

There are three types of radius map:

  • A manual radius map draws a radius on a map and exports the data to Excel
  • An automatic radius map automatically creates a ring map from a location or from multiple locations such as a list of addresses in an Excel spreadsheet
  • A distance/drive-time radius map creates a distance radius map for single or concentric circles for both straight-line and driving distance
Map radius tool ZIP Code radius map

Use the Maptitude map radius tool to create ZIP Code radius maps - identify the ZIP Codes and demographics within any radius

Driving radius map of 5-minute intervals around a location

A driving radius map can show driving distance or time rings around a location


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What are examples of radius maps?

Radius maps show circle-shaped features to indicate the distance from a central point. Examples include choropleth heat maps, which show the intensity of an area in relation to the distance from the central point, and population density maps, which show how many people live within a certain radius.

Drive-time radius map in one-minute intervals with a choropleth theme

A drive time radius map with a heat style

Radius map in shaded by cumulative population per ring

A radius map shaded by cumulative population per ring

What is a Map Radius Calculator?

A map radius calculator makes it easy to find alternative service providers, backup field representatives and the nearest locations. The calculator determines the closest sales representative to each customer or the closest vendor for each store. If the nearest location is not available for reasons such as low inventory or temporary outages, you will quickly be able to choose the alternate nearest suppliers. The results are provided in a table format.

Map radius calculator results showing distances to landmarks from several airport locations

The map radius calculator identifies the distance to locations from one ore more central locations

Create color and 3D map themes illustrating radius data with the Maptitude radius mapping app

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How to Make a Radius Map Using Radius Mapping Software

Watch a tutorial video on creating circular buffers with Maptitude

Watch a tutorial video on creating circular buffers with Maptitude

Watch a tutorial video on creating drive-time rings with Maptitude

Watch a tutorial video on creating drive-time rings with Maptitude

What app can I use to draw a radius on a map?

Maptitude allows you to draw a radius on a map. You can draw a radius around a location, draw a circle around a point, or draw a circular area around a set of coordinates. It also allows you to customize the size and color of your radius and can be used for a variety of applications such as route planning, boundary analysis, and market analysis. A variety of options allow you to:

  • create concentric circles
  • calculate cumulative demographics for each nested radius
  • create a radius around each location
  • merge the rings together

The radius analysis can then be exported to:

  • Google Maps or Google Earth as KML or KMZ
  • ArcGIS in many formats including Shapefile and File Geodatabase
  • Excel as a spreadsheet, a report, an image, or as tabular data

Google Maps has a feature that allows you to draw a radius on a map. To use this feature, search for your desired location on Google Maps. Next, select the "More" option from the menu, and select the "Measure Distance" option. You can then draw a radius around your desired location.

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How to print and measure a radius map

To print and measure a radius map, you will need to follow these steps:

  1. Determine the center point of your radius map. This can be a specific location or a point on a map.
  2. Determine the radius of your map. This is the distance from the center point that you want to examine.
  3. Use a mapping tool or software to create the map. There are many tools available that allow you to create a radius map, including Maptitude, Google Maps, MapQuest, and Bing Maps.
  4. Enter the center point and radius into the mapping tool and customize the map as desired. You can choose different colors, styles, and labels for your map.
  5. Once you are satisfied with your map, you can print it by selecting the "Print" option in the mapping tool or by saving the map as an image file and printing it from another program.

It is also possible to create a radius map manually by drawing it on a blank map or paper. To do this, you will need to use a ruler or other measuring tool to mark the radius around the center point and draw the map by hand.

Next Steps

Request a demo of Maptitude to see how you and your team can use radius mapping software to better understand your data!

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