Memphis · the midpoint
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Read more →
Meet halfway between Austin and Detroit
The fair place to meet is Memphis, TN — the city closest to the midpoint of Austin and Detroit. From the farther side that’s about 13 hr 4 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Memphis, TN
From Austin
11 hr 44 min
560 mi to Memphis
From Detroit
13 hr 4 min
623 mi to Memphis
Austin has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 1 hr 20 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Austin and Detroit are about 1,165 miles apart.
More meetups from Austin
Meeting in Memphis
Austin and Detroit are about 1,165 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 13 hr 4 min on the Detroit 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 Detroit 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 Detroit.
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 →
Detroit
Detroit is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario. It is the 26th-most populous city in the United States and the largest U.S. 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 Detroit?
- Memphis, TN is closest to the geographic midpoint, which makes it the fairest place to meet.
- How far apart are they?
- About 1,165 miles by road.
- How long is the drive to meet in the middle?
- Roughly 13 hr 4 min from the farther city to Memphis.
Estimates use straight-line distance and typical road speeds; real drive times vary with route and traffic.