The fair place to meet is Chicago, IL — the city closest to the midpoint of Detroit and Kansas City. From the farther side that’s about 8 hr 39 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Chicago, IL
From Detroit
4 hr 58 min
237 mi to Chicago
From Kansas City
8 hr 39 min
412 mi to Chicago
Detroit has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 3 hr 41 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Detroit and Kansas City are about 643 miles apart.
Detroit and Kansas City are about 643 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Chicago, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 4 hr 58 min of driving on the Detroit side and 8 hr 39 min on the Kansas City side — the fairest single meeting point among the cities near the middle.
That's a half-day drive from each side, so Chicago suits an overnight or a weekend rather than a quick coffee — long enough to want a reason to stay, short enough to drive.
If Chicago doesn't have what you're after, Indianapolis and Milwaukee are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Detroit and Kansas City.
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 →
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 →
Kansas City, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by both population and area. It is located on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River, within Jackson, Clay, Platte and Cass counties. 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.