The fair place to meet is Detroit, MI — the city closest to the midpoint of Cleveland and Columbus. From the farther side that’s about 3 hr 26 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Detroit, MI
From Cleveland
2 hr 15 min
90 mi to Detroit
From Columbus
3 hr 26 min
164 mi to Detroit
Cleveland has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 1 hr 11 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Cleveland and Columbus are about 126 miles apart.
Cleveland and Columbus are about 126 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Detroit, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 2 hr 15 min of driving on the Cleveland side and 3 hr 26 min on the Columbus side — the fairest single meeting point among the cities near the middle.
At this range, Detroit works for a same-day meetup: close enough from both Cleveland and Columbus to meet for lunch or an afternoon and still be home by evening.
If Detroit doesn't have what you're after, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Cleveland and Columbus.
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 →
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the lake from Ontario, Canada, and is approximately 60 miles west of the Ohio–Pennsylvania state line. Read more →
Columbus is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a population of 905,748 at the 2020 census, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., second-most populous city in the Midwest, and third-most populous U.S. state capital. 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.