Buffalo · the midpoint
Buffalo is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It lies in Western New York on the eastern shore of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River on the Canada–United States border. Read more →
Meet halfway between Boston and Chicago
The fair place to meet is Buffalo, NY — the city closest to the midpoint of Boston and Chicago. From the farther side that’s about 9 hr 28 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Buffalo, NY
From Boston
8 hr 22 min
399 mi to Buffalo
From Chicago
9 hr 28 min
452 mi to Buffalo
Boston has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 1 hr 6 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Boston and Chicago are about 849 miles apart.
More meetups from Boston
Meeting in Buffalo
Boston and Chicago are about 849 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Buffalo, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 8 hr 22 min of driving on the Boston side and 9 hr 28 min on the Chicago 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. Buffalo still makes a fair, central place for Boston and Chicago to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Buffalo doesn't have what you're after, Pittsburgh and Cleveland are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Boston and Chicago.
About the cities
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It serves as a cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. Read more →
Chicago
Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the third-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2.74 million at the 2020 census. Read more →
City descriptions adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); photos via Wikimedia Commons, credited above.
Questions
- Where is the halfway point between Boston and Chicago?
- Buffalo, NY is closest to the geographic midpoint, which makes it the fairest place to meet.
- How far apart are they?
- About 849 miles by road.
- How long is the drive to meet in the middle?
- Roughly 9 hr 28 min from the farther city to Buffalo.
Estimates use straight-line distance and typical road speeds; real drive times vary with route and traffic.