The fair place to meet is Richmond, VA — the city closest to the midpoint of Pittsburgh and Washington. From the farther side that’s about 5 hr 6 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Richmond, VA
From Pittsburgh
5 hr 6 min
243 mi to Richmond
From Washington
2 hr 25 min
97 mi to Richmond
Washington has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 2 hr 41 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Pittsburgh and Washington are about 190 miles apart.
Pittsburgh and Washington are about 190 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Richmond, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 5 hr 6 min of driving on the Pittsburgh side and 2 hr 25 min on the Washington side — the fairest single meeting point among the cities near the middle.
At this range, Richmond works for a same-day meetup: close enough from both Pittsburgh and Washington to meet for lunch or an afternoon and still be home by evening.
If Richmond doesn't have what you're after, Philadelphia and Cleveland are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Pittsburgh and Washington.
Richmond is the capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city since 1871. It is the fourth-most populous city in Virginia, with a population of 226,610 at the 2020 census. Read more →
Pittsburgh is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Read more →
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.
Estimates use straight-line distance and typical road speeds; real drive times vary with route and traffic.