Memphis · the midpoint
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Read more →
Meet halfway between Columbus and Houston
The fair place to meet is Memphis, TN — the city closest to the midpoint of Columbus and Houston. From the farther side that’s about 10 hr 41 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Memphis, TN
From Columbus
10 hr 41 min
509 mi to Memphis
From Houston
10 hr 9 min
484 mi to Memphis
Houston has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 32 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Columbus and Houston are about 992 miles apart.
More meetups from Columbus
Meeting in Memphis
Columbus and Houston are about 992 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Memphis, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 10 hr 41 min of driving on the Columbus side and 10 hr 9 min on the Houston 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. Memphis still makes a fair, central place for Columbus and Houston to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Memphis doesn't have what you're after, Nashville and Birmingham are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Columbus and Houston.
About the cities
Columbus
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 →
Houston
Houston is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States. It is the fourth-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2.3 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 Columbus and Houston?
- Memphis, TN is closest to the geographic midpoint, which makes it the fairest place to meet.
- How far apart are they?
- About 992 miles by road.
- How long is the drive to meet in the middle?
- Roughly 10 hr 41 min from the farther city to Memphis.
Estimates use straight-line distance and typical road speeds; real drive times vary with route and traffic.