The fair place to meet is Cleveland, OH — the city closest to the midpoint of Columbus and Pittsburgh. From the farther side that’s about 3 hr 9 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Cleveland, OH
From Columbus
3 hr 9 min
126 mi to Cleveland
From Pittsburgh
2 hr 52 min
115 mi to Cleveland
That’s an even split — both sides drive within 17 min of each other. Columbus and Pittsburgh are about 162 miles apart.
Columbus and Pittsburgh are about 162 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Cleveland, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That splits the trip almost evenly — about 3 hr 9 min from Columbus and 2 hr 52 min from Pittsburgh.
At this range, Cleveland works for a same-day meetup: close enough from both Columbus and Pittsburgh to meet for lunch or an afternoon and still be home by evening.
If Cleveland doesn't have what you're after, Detroit and Cincinnati are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Columbus and Pittsburgh.
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 →
Pittsburgh is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. 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.