Memphis · the midpoint
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Read more →
Meet halfway between Austin and Chicago
The fair place to meet is Memphis, TN — the city closest to the midpoint of Austin and Chicago. From the farther side that’s about 11 hr 44 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Memphis, TN
From Austin
11 hr 44 min
560 mi to Memphis
From Chicago
10 hr 8 min
483 mi to Memphis
Chicago has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 1 hr 36 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Austin and Chicago are about 980 miles apart.
More meetups from Austin
Meeting in Memphis
Austin and Chicago are about 980 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Memphis, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 11 hr 44 min of driving on the Austin side and 10 hr 8 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. Memphis still makes a fair, central place for Austin and Chicago to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Memphis doesn't have what you're after, Kansas City and Oklahoma City are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Austin and Chicago.
About the cities
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. With a population of 961,855 at the 2020 census, it is the 12th-most populous city in the U.S., fifth-most populous city in Texas, and second-most populous U.S. 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 Austin and Chicago?
- Memphis, TN is closest to the geographic midpoint, which makes it the fairest place to meet.
- How far apart are they?
- About 980 miles by road.
- How long is the drive to meet in the middle?
- Roughly 11 hr 44 min from the farther city to Memphis.
Estimates use straight-line distance and typical road speeds; real drive times vary with route and traffic.