Halfway Point Between Two Places

Quick Answer: How to Find the Halfway Point

1. 1Enter two places

   Search an address or city for A and B, use your location, or click the map.

2. 2Get the midpoint

   The point halfway along the WGS84 geodesic, with coordinates and the distance from each side.

3. 3Pick where to meet

   See the nearest towns, then search cafes, restaurants, gas, hotels and parks around the midpoint.

True Midpoint vs. Averaging Coordinates

A common shortcut is to find the halfway point between two locations by averaging their latitudes and longitudes:

The average is the midpoint of a straight line drawn on a flat latitude/longitude map. But the shortest path between two places on a curved Earth (the geodesic) bends toward the pole on such a map, so the farther apart the places and the higher their latitude, the farther the averaged point drifts from the real halfway point.

The error grows quickly with distance. New York to Tokyo is 6,763 miles along the geodesic, which runs over Alaska; its midpoint is near 69.76° N, 153.60° W. Averaging the coordinates gives 38.17° N, 32.86° E, in Turkey, 4,986 miles from the true midpoint, because the plain average also ignores the 180° meridian.

Open Map Lab instead computes the geodesic midpoint (s₁₂ / 2) with Charles Karney's algorithms (GeographicLib) on the WGS84 ellipsoid: it solves the shortest path between the two points and takes the position exactly halfway along it, so the two legs agree to well under a millimeter.

Ways to Find a Midpoint, Compared

There are four common ways people look for a halfway point. They answer slightly different questions:

For three or more people, a halfway point between two places is not enough: use the geographic center finder, which finds the center of any number of locations.

Meeting Halfway: By Distance or by Drive Time?

This tool finds the point that is the same straight-line (geodesic) distance from both places. A driving midpoint, where both people spend the same time on the road, is usually somewhere else:

• Roads are not straight. Highways follow valleys, bridges and mountain passes, so the road distance is longer than the straight line and not split evenly around the geometric midpoint.
• Speeds differ. If one person drives a 70 mph interstate and the other a slow two-lane mountain road, the time midpoint shifts toward the slower side, because the faster driver covers more miles in the same time.
• The midpoint may not be on a road at all. It can fall in a field, forest, lake or desert. The tool lists the nearest towns and can search for places to meet, which is usually what you need.

To compare how far each person can get in the same time, use the drive time map from each starting point, then pick a town where the two areas overlap.

Where to Meet Halfway: Common Situations

The exact midpoint is a starting point. Which spot nearby works best depends on why you are meeting:

• First date or meeting someone from online: pick a busy cafe or restaurant in a town near the midpoint, not the coordinate itself. Meet in daylight, tell a friend where you are going, and arrange your own transport.
• Child custody exchange: choose a well-lit public place with cameras and long opening hours, such as a 24-hour gas station or a restaurant parking lot. Some police stations offer marked safe-exchange spots; call the local non-emergency number to ask.
• Selling or buying an item: meet in a public, staffed location during business hours, bring someone with you for high-value items, and avoid isolated parking lots.
• Business meeting: look for a hotel lobby, restaurant or coffee shop in the nearest larger town, where parking and Wi-Fi are likely. Check opening hours before you set the time.
• Road-trip overnight stop: the halfway point of a long drive is a natural place to sleep. Search hotels and motels around the midpoint, then confirm the driving time to it in your navigation app, since the road midpoint can be some way off.

Places shown by the finder come from OpenStreetMap. Coverage is good in towns but incomplete in rural areas, and opening hours may be missing or out of date, so confirm with the business before you go.

Halfway Points Between Popular U.S. Cities (Table)

Straight-line halfway points for 15 common city pairs. Each city is its U.S. Census 2024 Gazetteer internal point (a point inside the city, not necessarily downtown), distances are WGS84 geodesics, and the nearest town is the closest Census place with 500 or more people. The town's own distance to each city shows how close to fair it is.

Halfway Points Across the Date Line and Opposite Sides of Earth

Two cases need special handling:

• Crossing the 180° meridian: between Alaska and eastern Russia, averaging longitudes (+170° + (−170°)) / 2 = 0° would put the midpoint on the Prime Meridian, on the other side of the world. The geodesic solver works with longitude differences wrapped to ±180°, so the midpoint stays on the short path across the date line.
• Antipodal pairs: for two points exactly opposite each other (such as parts of New Zealand and Spain), every path between them has the same length, about 12,430 miles (20,004 km), so there is no single halfway point.

How the Halfway Point Is Calculated

The same calculation the tool runs, step by step for New York to Los Angeles:

Halfway Point: Practical Limitations