Birmingham · the midpoint
Birmingham is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the third-most populous city in the state, with an estimated population of 196,357 as of 2024. Read more →
The fair place to meet is Birmingham, AL — the city closest to the midpoint of Austin and Washington. From the farther side that’s about 14 hr 14 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Birmingham, AL
From Austin
14 hr 14 min
679 mi to Birmingham
From Washington
13 hr 49 min
659 mi to Birmingham
Washington has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 25 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Austin and Washington are about 1,316 miles apart.
Austin and Washington are about 1,316 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Birmingham, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 14 hr 14 min of driving on the Austin side and 13 hr 49 min on the Washington 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. Birmingham still makes a fair, central place for Austin and Washington to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Birmingham doesn't have what you're after, Nashville and Memphis are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Austin and Washington.
Birmingham is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the third-most populous city in the state, with an estimated population of 196,357 as of 2024. Read more →
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 →
Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia and commonly known as simply Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. 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.