Why distance shows up in a quote
A business further from your address may add a trip or travel charge to cover drive time and fuel, particularly for a smaller job where the travel time is a larger share of the total visit.
Some businesses simply won't quote a job much outside their usual coverage area at all, since a single distant job can tie up a crew and vehicle for longer than the same job closer to home.
Why distance matters after the job, too
A shower remodel can surface a warranty issue: a slow leak at a seam, a valve that needs adjustment, a piece of trim that comes loose. A business 10 minutes away can often turn around a warranty visit faster than one an hour out, purely on logistics.
Ask directly how a business handles a callback for something that needs attention after the job is done, and whether distance from your address affects how quickly they can get to you.
When distance shouldn't be the deciding factor
A specialty need, like a curbless shower or accessible design, can be worth traveling further for if the closest options near you don't have that specific experience.
A business that clearly communicates its travel policy, fees and response time upfront is often a better bet than a closer one that's vague about any of the three, even if the second one is nominally more convenient.
Using this site's ZIP grouping to weigh the trade-off
This page groups pros by ZIP specifically so you can see who's genuinely close before broadening the search, rather than guessing from a citywide list which listings are actually nearby.
If your own ZIP is thin, the nearby-city distance shown on this page gives you a concrete number to ask about, rather than an unknown 'how far is too far.'
Questions that surface a business's real coverage area
Ask how many jobs they've done in your specific ZIP or neighborhood recently, rather than just asking if they 'cover' your area; a vague yes to coverage doesn't tell you how familiar they actually are with your part of town.
Ask whether a permit pulled through your local building department is something they handle routinely or rarely; a business that mostly works in a different jurisdiction may be less familiar with your specific city's inspection process, even if the state licensing rules are identical.
A simple way to compare two options
Weigh distance against everything else on a single sheet before deciding: price, material and license status from the closer business against the same three from the farther one, with distance itself as a fourth, explicit line rather than an unspoken tiebreaker.
If every other factor comes out roughly even, distance is a perfectly reasonable deciding vote; it just shouldn't be the only one you weigh.