The fair place to meet is Charlotte, NC — the city closest to the midpoint of Birmingham and Washington. From the farther side that’s about 7 hr 33 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Charlotte, NC
From Birmingham
7 hr 33 min
360 mi to Charlotte
From Washington
6 hr 55 min
330 mi to Charlotte
Washington has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 38 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Birmingham and Washington are about 659 miles apart.
Birmingham and Washington are about 659 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Charlotte, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 7 hr 33 min of driving on the Birmingham side and 6 hr 55 min on the Washington side — the fairest single meeting point among the cities near the middle.
That's a half-day drive from each side, so Charlotte suits an overnight or a weekend rather than a quick coffee — long enough to want a reason to stay, short enough to drive.
If Charlotte doesn't have what you're after, Raleigh and Atlanta are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Birmingham and Washington.
Charlotte is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. With a population of 874,579 at the 2020 census, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., seventh-most populous city in the South, and second-most populous city in the Southeast. 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 →
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.