MidRally

Meet halfway between Minneapolis and Washington

The fair place to meet is Detroit, MI — the city closest to the midpoint of Minneapolis and Washington. From the farther side that’s about 11 hr 22 min of driving.

Detroit, MI
Detroit, MI — the midpoint Photo: TheWxResearcher / CC0 · Commons

Recommended midpoint

Detroit, MI

From Minneapolis

11 hr 22 min

542 mi to Detroit

From Washington

8 hr 16 min

394 mi to Detroit

Washington has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 3 hr 6 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Minneapolis and Washington are about 931 miles apart.

More meetups from Minneapolis

More meetups from Washington

Meeting in Detroit

Minneapolis and Washington are about 931 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Detroit, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 11 hr 22 min of driving on the Minneapolis side and 8 hr 16 min on the Washington 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. Detroit still makes a fair, central place for Minneapolis and Washington to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.

If Detroit doesn't have what you're after, Chicago and Indianapolis are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Minneapolis and Washington.

About the cities

Detroit · the midpoint

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 →

Minneapolis

Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 census, it is the state's most populous city. Read more →

Washington

Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia and commonly known as simply Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. Read more →

City descriptions adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); photos via Wikimedia Commons, credited above.

Questions

Where is the halfway point between Minneapolis and Washington?
Detroit, MI is closest to the geographic midpoint, which makes it the fairest place to meet.
How far apart are they?
About 931 miles by road.
How long is the drive to meet in the middle?
Roughly 11 hr 22 min from the farther city to Detroit.

Estimates use straight-line distance and typical road speeds; real drive times vary with route and traffic.