Memphis · the midpoint
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Read more →
Meet halfway between Austin and Columbus
The fair place to meet is Memphis, TN — the city closest to the midpoint of Austin and Columbus. 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 Columbus
10 hr 41 min
509 mi to Memphis
Columbus has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 1 hr 3 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Austin and Columbus are about 1,067 miles apart.
More meetups from Austin
Meeting in Memphis
Austin and Columbus are about 1,067 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 41 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. Memphis still makes a fair, central place for Austin and Columbus to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Memphis doesn't have what you're after, Nashville and Birmingham are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Austin and Columbus.
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 →
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 Austin and Columbus?
- Memphis, TN is closest to the geographic midpoint, which makes it the fairest place to meet.
- How far apart are they?
- About 1,067 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.