Determine the distance between a point feature and the nearest point feature in another layer in ArcGIS Pro

Summary

The distance between two features is calculated as the shortest straight line connecting the points. ArcGIS Pro provides a few tools to calculate distance, including the Near, Generate Near Table, and Spatial Join (with CLOSEST match option) tools. Refer to ArcGIS Pro: How proximity tools calculate distance for more information.

This article provides options to determine the distance between the nearest point features from two different layers. For instance, to find the nearest distance between point features from a Residential layer and a School layer.

Procedure

Use the Proximity toolset

The Near and Generate Near Table tools from the Proximity toolset calculate distance and other proximity information between input features and the nearest features in another layer or feature class. While the Near tool modifies the input and writes results in the input layer's attribute table, the Generate Near Table tool writes results to a new stand-alone table. Refer to ArcGIS Pro: Near (Analysis) and ArcGIS Pro: Generate Near Table (Analysis) for more information on how to use these tools.

Note:
The Near and Generate Near Table tools are only available with an ArcGIS Desktop Advanced license.

Use the Overlay toolset

This option uses the Spatial Join tool to join attributes from target features to the join features based on spatial relationship, and writes the results to the output feature class.

1. In the Contents pane, right-click the target point layer, and click Joins and Relates > Spatial Join.
2. In the Spatial Join pane, select the other point layer for Join Features.
3. Set a name and location for Output Feature Class.
4. Select the join operation method for Join Operation.
5. For Match Option, select Closest.
6. Set a name for Distance Field Name.

7. Set other parameters as desired, and click Run. A new joined feature class is added to the Contents pane. To view the distance between a point feature and the nearest point feature, open the attribute table of the new feature class, and browse to the field with the name set in Step 6.

The image below shows the distance between a point feature and the nearest point feature in another layer, that is, 1,392.617 meters.