Seattle · the midpoint
Seattle is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Read more →
Meet halfway between Anchorage and Chicago
The fair place to meet is Seattle, WA — the city closest to the midpoint of Anchorage and Chicago. From the farther side that’s about 36 hr 20 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Seattle, WA
From Anchorage
30 hr 5 min
1,435 mi to Seattle
From Chicago
36 hr 20 min
1,733 mi to Seattle
Anchorage has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 6 hr 15 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Anchorage and Chicago are about 2,850 miles apart.
More meetups from Anchorage
Meeting in Seattle
Anchorage and Chicago are about 2,850 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Seattle, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 30 hr 5 min of driving on the Anchorage side and 36 hr 20 min on the Chicago side — the fairest single meeting point among the cities near the middle.
Over this distance most people will fly rather than drive the whole way. Seattle still makes a fair, central place for Anchorage and Chicago to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Seattle doesn't have what you're after, Portland and Boise are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Anchorage and Chicago.
About the cities
Anchorage
Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. Read more →
Chicago
Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the third-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2.74 million at the 2020 census. Read more →
City descriptions adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); photos via Wikimedia Commons, credited above.
Questions
- Where is the halfway point between Anchorage and Chicago?
- Seattle, WA is closest to the geographic midpoint, which makes it the fairest place to meet.
- How far apart are they?
- About 2,850 miles by road.
- How long is the drive to meet in the middle?
- Roughly 36 hr 20 min from the farther city to Seattle.
Estimates use straight-line distance and typical road speeds; real drive times vary with route and traffic.