Social Distancing Calculator — Room Capacity and Floor Area
Find out how much floor space a group needs when keeping a minimum distance between people — enter the group size, required separation, and your room area to get required square metres, room dimensions, and maximum safe capacity.
m
m²
Minimum floor space needed for the group with required distancing
- 1
Area per person
2 × 2 = 4Square-grid packing: each person occupies a d × d floor tile. - 2
Required floor area
20 × 4 = 80
How does this calculator work?
Area per person = distance², so 20 people at 2 m need 20 × 4 = 80 m². Square room side = √80 ≈ 9 m; circular radius = √(80/π) ≈ 5 m. Enter your room area to see the maximum safe head-count.
Formula
How this is calculated
When people are arranged in a regular square grid with each individual spaced d metres from their neighbours in all directions, each person effectively occupies a floor tile d × d = d² square metres. Multiplying by the number of people gives the minimum total floor area needed. The calculator also expresses this as a square room (side = √area) and a circular gathering space (radius = √(area ÷ π)) so you can check whether a round or square venue is adequate.
For 2-metre distancing (the most widely cited COVID-era recommendation), each person needs a 4 m² tile — roughly a 2 m × 2 m square. A group of 20 people therefore requires 80 m², equivalent to a square room about 9 m on each side. If you enter an available room area, the calculator shows how many people that space can accommodate and what fraction of the floor the group would occupy.
This model uses simple square-grid packing, which is conservative (hexagonal close-packing would save around 10% of area). In practice, irregular room shapes, furniture, obstructions, and non-uniform movement mean you should treat the required area as a minimum. The 1–2 metre distancing guidance varied by country and changed over time during the 2019–2022 pandemic; enter the specific distance required by your venue or current public-health authority.
Frequently asked questions
In square-grid packing each person "owns" a d × d floor tile so that every adjacent pair is exactly d metres apart (centre-to-centre). A full circle of radius d per person would give π × d² ≈ 3.14 d², which over-estimates the space required — in a grid arrangement the circular zones overlap and the square tile is the correct unit.
During the COVID-19 pandemic the WHO recommended at least 1 metre; the US CDC recommended 6 feet (≈ 1.83 m); many European countries mandated 1.5–2 metres. For general infectious-disease risk reduction in enclosed spaces, 1–2 metres is a widely cited guideline. Always follow the current rules of your local authority or venue.
No — it models an open floor plan with square-grid packing. Subtract the footprint of furniture, walls, stages, and aisle space from the available room area before entering it, or add a practical safety buffer (20–30 % extra) to the required area.
Also known as
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). Social Distancing Calculator — Room Capacity and Floor Area [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/social-distancing-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "Social Distancing Calculator — Room Capacity and Floor Area." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/social-distancing-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "Social Distancing Calculator — Room Capacity and Floor Area," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/social-distancing-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_social_distancing_calculator, title = {Social Distancing Calculator — Room Capacity and Floor Area}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/social-distancing-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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