How to Use Google Earth's Measure Tool for Lawns and Driveways

Google Earth is the measuring tool most lawn care and pressure washing owners start with. It is free, runs in a browser, and already shows most customers' homes. The catch is that it was built for exploring the planet, not for quoting a 6,000 square foot front lawn, so a few habits make the difference between a number you can price from and one that costs you money.

This guide covers the exact steps on Google Earth web, mobile, and Google Earth Pro, what to trace for lawns and driveways, where the tool goes wrong, and how to turn the result into a price.

Which version of Google Earth to use

There are three versions, and they measure slightly differently.

Version	Where it runs	Measures	Best for
Google Earth (web)	Chrome and other browsers	Distance, perimeter, area via the Measure tool Google Earth Help	Quick quotes at a desk
Google Earth (mobile)	Android and iOS app	Same Measure tool, tap to add points Google Earth Help	Checking a measurement in the truck
Google Earth Pro	Windows and Mac desktop	Ruler with Polygon, Circle, 3D path and 3D polygon modes Google Earth Help	Saving measurements, odd shapes

Google Earth Pro used to cost $399 a year. Google removed that price in early 2015 and released it for free Google Earth Blog.

Google Maps is not on this list on purpose. Its Measure distance feature reports "total distance in miles (mi) and kilometers (km)" along a path you click, but it does not report area Google Maps Help. That is fine for a fence run, useless for a lawn.

Step by step: measuring a lawn in Google Earth web or mobile

The steps below follow Google's own help page for the Measure tool Google Earth Help.

1. Search the address. Type the customer's address in the search box and let the map fly to the house.
2. Switch to a top-down view. If the map is tilted, reset it so you are looking straight down. Google's guidance is blunt: "For best results, measure using a top-down view" Google Earth Help.
3. Open the Measure tool. It is the ruler icon in the toolbar.
4. Add points around the turf. Click (or tap "Add point" on mobile) at each corner where the grass meets a bed, driveway, sidewalk, or fence. On curved edges, add more points closer together.
5. Close the shape. Connect back to your first point and choose Close shape. Google Earth now shows the area, not just the distance Google Earth Help.
6. Set your units. Use the dropdown next to the measurement, or set a default under Settings, then Format and Units Google Earth Help. Pick square feet for residential quotes.
7. Undo bad points. If you misclick, Undo removes the last point instead of starting over.

Write the number down before you close the tool. On the web version, the measurement does not stay on the map once you move on to the next job.

Front, back, and side yards

Measure each section as its own shape. A typical house splits the lawn into a front yard, a back yard, and one or two side strips. Separate shapes let you:

• Skip a section the customer does not want serviced.
• Spot a mistake, because a 400 square foot side strip that shows up as 2,000 is obvious.
• Quote different services on different areas, such as fertilizing the front only.

Step by step: measuring in Google Earth Pro

Pro is worth installing if you want to keep measurements or measure complicated properties.

1. Open Google Earth Pro and fly to the address.
2. Open the Ruler from the toolbar or menu.
3. Choose the Polygon tab for an area, described by Google as "the distance or area of a shape on the ground" Google Earth Help.
4. Click each corner of the lawn or slab. The Ruler window shows the perimeter and area as you go.
5. Save the measurement with a name, such as the customer's street address, so it lives in your Places panel Google Earth Help.

To switch between feet and meters, go to Tools, then Options on Windows, or Preferences on Mac Google Earth Help.

The Circle mode is handy for round beds and tree rings you need to subtract.

Measuring a driveway

Driveways are easier than lawns because the edges are sharp and the shape is usually a rectangle or two.

• Trace the slab, not the lot. Follow the concrete edge where it meets grass or soil.
• Measure the apron and public sidewalk as separate shapes. Customers often do not picture those as part of "the driveway," so list them separately.
• Split L-shapes and turnarounds into rectangles if the Close shape result looks off.
• Ignore parked cars. Draw straight through them along the visible edges.

For a gut check, compare your result to a published size table. Fixr prices driveways by size at 400, 600, 800, 1,000, and 1,200 square feet, with a 600 sq ft driveway running $180 to $240 for pressure washing Fixr. If your measurement of an ordinary two-car driveway lands at 2,500 square feet, you probably traced the whole parking pad and the street.

There is more detail on what to include in our guide on how to measure a driveway for a pressure washing quote.

Where Google Earth measurements go wrong

Google itself says measurements "may not be 100% accurate, especially in areas with 3D terrain and buildings," and that they "don't account for changes in elevation" Google Earth Help. In practice, five problems cause most bad numbers.

Problem	What happens	Fix
Tilted or 3D view	Edges shift, area comes out wrong	Reset to straight top-down before tracing
Tree canopy	Turf under trees is hidden	Extend straight edges under the canopy, then confirm with a customer photo
Steep slopes	Real surface is larger than the flat area	Add a margin on hillsides; the tool ignores elevation
Old imagery	New patio, pool, or extension missing	Check the imagery date before you trust the trace
Beds and hardscape left in	Lawn area is overstated	Measure beds and walks separately and subtract them

The imagery date problem deserves its own check. In Google Earth web, the date or date range of the image appears in the bottom status bar when you move the cursor over the map, though it "may not be available in all locations or at all zoom levels" Google for Developers. Our guide on how old satellite imagery is covers how to read those dates and when to ask for a photo.

Turning the measurement into a price

A measurement only matters because it drives the price. Small errors add up fast.

Lawns. LawnStarter reports that most pros charge $0.01 to $0.06 per square foot for mowing, or $41 to $61 per visit for lawns up to a quarter acre LawnStarter. A quarter acre is 10,890 square feet (43,560 ÷ 4). Even at the bottom of that range, $0.01 per square foot, overstating a lawn by 2,000 square feet adds $20 a visit. LawnStarter counts about 26 mowing weeks in the Midwest LawnStarter, so that one tracing mistake is $520 a season, which is exactly the gap a customer notices on a competitor's bid.

Driveways. At Fixr's $0.30 to $0.40 per square foot Fixr, missing 200 square feet of slab is $60 to $80 of free work.

Here is the method to price from a Google Earth measurement:

1. Add up your measured areas by service (turf, slab, walks).
2. Multiply each by your own rate per square foot or per 1,000 square feet.
3. Apply your job minimum. LawnStarter puts the typical minimum around $30 for small properties LawnStarter.
4. Present one flat price per service to the customer.

The Mowing Price Calculator and Pressure Washing Price Calculator do steps 2 through 4 if you paste in your square footage.

When to stop using Google Earth

Google Earth works well for a handful of quotes a week. It gets slow when you are measuring several properties a day, because each measurement has to be re-typed into a spreadsheet or estimate, and nothing links the area to the price or the customer.

That is the gap a measuring and quoting tool fills. AboveYard, for example, lets you trace the lawn or slab on satellite imagery and turns the area into a quote the customer can sign online; it is free with unlimited measurements and no credit card, at aboveyard.com/signup. If you just want a square footage number without an account, the Lawn Size Calculator and Driveway Square Footage Calculator work the same way as Google Earth's Measure tool, minus the extra steps.

Either way: top-down view, separate shapes, check the imagery date, confirm what you cannot see.

Sources

• Google Earth Help – Measure distances and areas
• Google Earth Help – Measure distances and elevation in Google Earth Pro
• Google for Developers – Find basemap imagery dates, altitude, and coordinates
• Google Maps Help – Measure distance between points
• Google Earth Blog – Measuring in Google Earth Pro
• Fixr – Pressure Wash Driveway Cost
• LawnStarter – Lawn Mowing Prices