The fair place to meet is Kansas City, MO — the city closest to the midpoint of Richmond and Salt Lake City. From the farther side that’s about 19 hr 35 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Kansas City, MO
From Richmond
19 hr 35 min
934 mi to Kansas City
From Salt Lake City
19 hr 21 min
923 mi to Kansas City
That’s an even split — both sides drive within 14 min of each other. Richmond and Salt Lake City are about 1,848 miles apart.
Richmond and Salt Lake City are about 1,848 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Kansas City, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That splits the trip almost evenly — about 19 hr 35 min from Richmond and 19 hr 21 min from Salt Lake City.
Over this distance most people will fly rather than drive the whole way. Kansas City still makes a fair, central place for Richmond and Salt Lake City to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Kansas City doesn't have what you're after, Omaha and Oklahoma City are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Richmond and Salt Lake City.
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 →
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 →
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. 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.