Zip code distance calculator

excel vba distance zipcode
MAW74656 picture MAW74656 · Jul 7, 2011 · Viewed 16.2k times · Source

I have a spreadsheet of addresses and I need to calculate the distance between all of their zip codes and my zip code. I'm fairly flexible on the method used, but I'm hoping for some sort of webservice or mathematic algorithm. US addresses only. Basically I need to feed in 2 zip codes and get out the distance between them.

I'm willing to use Excel formulas or VBA, and I can even code something in C#.net if needed.

How would you go about calculating these distances?

Answer

sealz picture sealz · Jul 7, 2011

You could use Latitude and Longitude.

Excel:

=IF(SIN(Lat1) * SIN(Lat2) + COS(Lat1) * COS(Lat2) * COS(Long1 - Long2) > 1, 
RadiusofEarth * ACOS(1), RadiusofEarth * 
ACOS(SIN(Lat1) * SIN(Lat2) + COS(Lat1) * COS(Lat2) * COS(Long1-Long2)))

VB.net imports System.Math

Private Function Distance(ByVal lat1 As Double, ByVal lon1 As Double, ByVal lat2 As Double, ByVal lon2 As Double, ByVal unit As String) As Double
        Dim theta As Double = lon1 - lon2
        Dim dist = System.Math.Sin(deg2rad(lat1)) * System.Math.Sin(deg2rad(lat2)) + System.Math.Cos(deg2rad(lat1)) * System.Math.Cos(deg2rad(lat2)) * System.Math.Cos(deg2rad(theta))
        dist = System.Math.Acos(dist)
        dist = rad2deg(dist)
        dist = dist * 60 * 1.1515
        Select Case unit
            Case "K"
                dist = dist * 1.609344
            Case "N"
                dist = dist * 0.8684
        End Select

        Return dist

    End Function

Other Useful Links(First one also mentions VBA alternatives)

ExcelLatLong (Also mentions VBA alternatives)

Zips by Lat Long Lookup

VBA discussion

EDIT: Link added due to comment discussion

More Info(Excel Formula)

Related questions

Is there a way to crack the password on an Excel VBA Project?

I've been asked to update some Excel 2003 macros, but the VBA projects are password protected, and it seems there's a lack of documentation... no-one knows the passwords. Is there a way of removing or cracking the password on a VBA …

Read More
How do I declare a global variable in VBA?

I wrote the following code: Function find_results_idle() Public iRaw As Integer Public iColumn As Integer iRaw = 1 iColumn = 1 And I get the error message: "invalid attribute in Sub or Function" Do you know what I did wrong? I tried …

Read More
How to use Regular Expressions (Regex) in Microsoft Excel both in-cell and loops

How can I use regular expressions in Excel and take advantage of Excel's powerful grid-like setup for data manipulation? In-cell function to return a matched pattern or replaced value in a string. Sub to loop through a column of data …

Read More