The fair place to meet is Dallas-Fort Worth, TX — the city closest to the midpoint of Atlanta and Phoenix. From the farther side that’s about 18 hr 33 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
From Atlanta
15 hr 5 min
720 mi to Dallas
From Phoenix
18 hr 33 min
885 mi to Dallas
Atlanta has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 3 hr 28 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Atlanta and Phoenix are about 1,589 miles apart.
Atlanta and Phoenix are about 1,589 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Dallas, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 15 hr 5 min of driving on the Atlanta side and 18 hr 33 min on the Phoenix 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. Dallas still makes a fair, central place for Atlanta and Phoenix to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Dallas doesn't have what you're after, Oklahoma City and Austin are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Atlanta and Phoenix.
Dallas is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. Located in the state's northern region, it is the ninth-most populous city in the United States and third-most populous city in Texas, with a population of 1.3 million at the 2020 census. Read more →
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the county seat of Fulton County and extends into neighboring DeKalb County. Read more →
Phoenix is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, Phoenix is the fifth-most populous city in the United States and the most populous state capital. Read more →
City descriptions adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); photos via Wikimedia Commons, credited above.
Estimates use straight-line distance and typical road speeds; real drive times vary with route and traffic.