diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/mapbox/mapboxsdk/plugins/testapp/activity/scalebar/ScalebarActivity.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/mapbox/mapboxsdk/plugins/testapp/activity/scalebar/ScalebarActivity.kt
index abf08b374..ab5a67ff3 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/mapbox/mapboxsdk/plugins/testapp/activity/scalebar/ScalebarActivity.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/mapbox/mapboxsdk/plugins/testapp/activity/scalebar/ScalebarActivity.kt
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ class ScalebarActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
                 .setTextSize(20f)
                 .setBarHeight(15f)
                 .setBorderWidth(5f)
-                .setMetricUnit(true)
                 .setRefreshInterval(15)
                 .setMarginTop(15f)
                 .setMarginLeft(16f)
diff --git a/plugin-scalebar/src/main/java/com/mapbox/pluginscalebar/ScaleBarConstants.java b/plugin-scalebar/src/main/java/com/mapbox/pluginscalebar/ScaleBarConstants.java
index 8a170f4f1..80f47a6df 100644
--- a/plugin-scalebar/src/main/java/com/mapbox/pluginscalebar/ScaleBarConstants.java
+++ b/plugin-scalebar/src/main/java/com/mapbox/pluginscalebar/ScaleBarConstants.java
@@ -6,9 +6,12 @@
 
 class ScaleBarConstants {
   static double FEET_PER_METER = 3.2808;
+  static int KILOMETER = 1000;
   static int FEET_PER_MILE = 5280;
   static String METER_UNIT = " m";
   static String FEET_UNIT = " ft";
+  static String KILOMETER_UNIT = " km";
+  static String MILE_UNIT = " mile";
   static ArrayList<Pair<Integer, Integer>> metricTable = new ArrayList<Pair<Integer, Integer>>() {
     {
       add(new Pair<>(1, 2));
diff --git a/plugin-scalebar/src/main/java/com/mapbox/pluginscalebar/ScaleBarWidget.java b/plugin-scalebar/src/main/java/com/mapbox/pluginscalebar/ScaleBarWidget.java
index b882f306f..a7d01fdf8 100644
--- a/plugin-scalebar/src/main/java/com/mapbox/pluginscalebar/ScaleBarWidget.java
+++ b/plugin-scalebar/src/main/java/com/mapbox/pluginscalebar/ScaleBarWidget.java
@@ -11,8 +11,14 @@
 import android.view.View;
 
 import java.lang.ref.WeakReference;
+import java.text.DecimalFormat;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 
+import static com.mapbox.pluginscalebar.ScaleBarConstants.FEET_PER_MILE;
+import static com.mapbox.pluginscalebar.ScaleBarConstants.KILOMETER;
+import static com.mapbox.pluginscalebar.ScaleBarConstants.KILOMETER_UNIT;
+import static com.mapbox.pluginscalebar.ScaleBarConstants.MILE_UNIT;
+
 /**
  * The scale widget is a visual representation of the scale bar plugin.
  */
@@ -37,6 +43,7 @@ public class ScaleBarWidget extends View {
   private ArrayList<Pair<Integer, Integer>> scaleTable;
   private String unit;
   private final RefreshHandler refreshHandler;
+  private DecimalFormat decimalFormat = new DecimalFormat("0.0");
 
   ScaleBarWidget(@NonNull Context context) {
     super(context);
@@ -90,7 +97,7 @@ protected void onDraw(Canvas canvas) {
     int i = 0;
     for (; i < pair.second; i++) {
       barPaint.setColor(i % 2 == 0 ? primaryColor : secondaryColor);
-      String text = i == 0 ? String.valueOf(unitDistance * i) : unitDistance * i + unit;
+      String text = i == 0 ? String.valueOf(unitDistance * i) : getDistanceText(unitDistance * i);
       canvas.drawText(text,
         marginLeft + unitBarWidth * i,
         textSize + marginTop,
@@ -101,7 +108,7 @@ protected void onDraw(Canvas canvas) {
         textBarMargin + textSize + marginTop + barHeight,
         barPaint);
     }
-    canvas.drawText(unitDistance * i + unit,
+    canvas.drawText(getDistanceText(unitDistance * i),
       marginLeft + unitBarWidth * i,
       textSize + marginTop,
       textPaint);
@@ -341,6 +348,21 @@ void setMapViewWidth(int mapViewWidth) {
     maxBarWidth = mapViewWidth / 2f - marginLeft;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Get the formatted distance text according unit and distance
+   * @param distance original distance
+   * @return Formatted distance text
+   */
+  private String getDistanceText(int distance) {
+    if (ScaleBarConstants.METER_UNIT.equals(unit)) {
+      return distance < KILOMETER ? distance + unit
+        : decimalFormat.format(distance * 1.0 / KILOMETER) + KILOMETER_UNIT;
+    } else {
+      return distance < FEET_PER_MILE ? distance + unit
+        : decimalFormat.format(distance * 1.0 / FEET_PER_MILE) + MILE_UNIT;
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Handler class to limit the refresh frequent.
    */