The fair place to meet is Charlotte, NC — the city closest to the midpoint of Tampa and Washington. From the farther side that’s about 10 hr 44 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Charlotte, NC
From Tampa
10 hr 44 min
512 mi to Charlotte
From Washington
6 hr 55 min
330 mi to Charlotte
Washington has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 3 hr 49 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Tampa and Washington are about 819 miles apart.
Tampa and Washington are about 819 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Charlotte, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 10 hr 44 min of driving on the Tampa side and 6 hr 55 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. Charlotte still makes a fair, central place for Tampa and Washington to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Charlotte doesn't have what you're after, Raleigh and Atlanta are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Tampa and Washington.
Charlotte is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. With a population of 874,579 at the 2020 census, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., seventh-most populous city in the South, and second-most populous city in the Southeast. Read more →
Tampa is a major city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Hillsborough County. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. 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.