The fair place to meet is Charlotte, NC — the city closest to the midpoint of Cleveland and Tampa. From the farther side that’s about 10 hr 44 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Charlotte, NC
From Cleveland
9 hr 8 min
436 mi to Charlotte
From Tampa
10 hr 44 min
512 mi to Charlotte
Cleveland has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 1 hr 36 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Cleveland and Tampa are about 937 miles apart.
Cleveland and Tampa are about 937 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Charlotte, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 9 hr 8 min of driving on the Cleveland side and 10 hr 44 min on the Tampa 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. Charlotte still makes a fair, central place for Cleveland and Tampa to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Charlotte doesn't have what you're after, Atlanta and Raleigh are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Cleveland and Tampa.
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 →
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 →
Tampa is a major city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Hillsborough County. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. 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.