The fair place to meet is Albuquerque, NM — the city closest to the midpoint of Birmingham and Sacramento. From the farther side that’s about 23 hr 49 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Albuquerque, NM
From Birmingham
23 hr 49 min
1,136 mi to Albuquerque
From Sacramento
17 hr 55 min
855 mi to Albuquerque
Sacramento has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 5 hr 54 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Birmingham and Sacramento are about 1,957 miles apart.
Birmingham and Sacramento are about 1,957 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Albuquerque, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 23 hr 49 min of driving on the Birmingham side and 17 hr 55 min on the Sacramento 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. Albuquerque still makes a fair, central place for Birmingham and Sacramento to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Albuquerque doesn't have what you're after, Denver and El Paso are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Birmingham and Sacramento.
Albuquerque is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Founded in 1706 as La Villa de Alburquerque by Santa Fe de Nuevo México governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdés, and named in honor of Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 10th Duke of Alburquerque… Read more →
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 →
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California. The county seat of Sacramento County, it is located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in the Sacramento Valley. 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.