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 Columbus
The fair place to meet is Seattle, WA — the city closest to the midpoint of Anchorage and Columbus. From the farther side that’s about 42 hr 7 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Seattle, WA
From Anchorage
30 hr 5 min
1,435 mi to Seattle
From Columbus
42 hr 7 min
2,008 mi to Seattle
Anchorage has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 12 hr 2 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Anchorage and Columbus are about 3,106 miles apart.
More meetups from Anchorage
Meeting in Seattle
Anchorage and Columbus are about 3,106 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 42 hr 7 min on the Columbus 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 Columbus 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 Columbus.
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 →
Columbus
Columbus is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a population of 905,748 at the 2020 census, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., second-most populous city in the Midwest, and third-most populous U.S. state capital. 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 Columbus?
- Seattle, WA is closest to the geographic midpoint, which makes it the fairest place to meet.
- How far apart are they?
- About 3,106 miles by road.
- How long is the drive to meet in the middle?
- Roughly 42 hr 7 min from the farther city to Seattle.
Estimates use straight-line distance and typical road speeds; real drive times vary with route and traffic.