Distance Between Cities Calculator
Calculate the straight-line great-circle distance in miles, kilometers, and nautical miles between any two U.S. cities, towns, or Census Designated Places.
Enter two locations above or choose a sample pair to compute the straight-line (as-the-crow-flies) distance.
Straight-line (as-the-crow-flies) distance: This calculation measures the shortest spherical great-circle path over the Earth's surface, not driving road mileage or turn-by-turn travel time.
Great-Circle Path & Endpoint Details
Halfway point calculator Distance between cities Crow-flies distance Distance between ZIP Codes Radius map
How Straight-Line Distance Between Two Cities Is Calculated
This calculator measures the shortest surface distance between any two U.S. cities, towns, villages, or Census Designated Places by looking up each community’s official U.S. Census Bureau internal point coordinates (INTPTLAT and INTPTLON) and applying the spherical haversine great-circle formula with the IUGG mean Earth radius of 6,371,008.8 meters (3,958.7613 statute miles). Results are displayed simultaneously in statute miles (mi), kilometers (km), and international nautical miles (nmi, where 1 nmi = 1,852 meters).
Where City Center Coordinates Come From
Because a municipality can cover dozens or hundreds of square miles, any city-to-city distance depends on the reference point chosen for each city. QuickWhere uses the U.S. Census Bureau’s current TIGERweb Incorporated Places (Layer 28, 19,729 municipalities) and Census Designated Places (Layer 30, 12,913 communities) dataset, totaling 32,642 U.S. places across all 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Each place’s internal point is guaranteed by the Census Bureau to lie inside its legal polygon boundary (usually near the geographic center of the municipality).
Great-Circle Air Distance vs. Highway Driving Distance
- Air Travel, Radio Propagation, and Per-Diem Rules: Great-circle city distance is the standard metric used for aviation flight routing, FCC broadcast spacing, travel radius policies, and regional relocation rules.
- Why Road Mileage Is Longer: Highway driving distance between two cities is typically 15% to 35% longer than the straight-line great-circle distance because roads curve around mountains, lakes, bays, and river crossings.
- Initial Compass Bearing and Midpoint: Every calculation also reports the initial forward compass azimuth (
0°–360°and 16-wind compass direction) from Origin to Destination and the exact geographic midpoint coordinates.
Need to measure between two specific street addresses or 5-digit ZIP Codes instead of city centers? Switch to As the Crow Flies Distance, Distance Between Two ZIP Codes, or find the meeting spot on the Halfway Point Calculator.