A catchment area is a geographic area that a facility, such as a business, service, or institution, attracts its customers or users from. The size and shape of a catchment area depend on how accessible the facility is and how far it is from the customers or users. Catchment areas can be defined by distance, travel time, or mobility patterns, allowing businesses to analyze where foot traffic comes from in a variety of ways.

In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service, or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Governments and community service organizations often define catchment areas for planning purposes and public safety, such as ensuring universal access to services like fire departments, police departments, ambulance bases, and hospitals. For example, a school catchment area is the geographic area from which students are eligible to attend a local school.

In geography, a catchment area is an area of land that collects water after rainfall, typically bounded by hills. Water flows down into these areas and collects into rivers and streams. These areas are useful for analyzing a geographic area, as it aims to understand waterfall and flow in the area.

Overall, catchment areas are useful for businesses, governments, and organizations to understand where their customers or users come from and to analyze the geographic area for planning purposes.