Houston to Monterrey distance

Houston to Monterrey by road

The fastest driving route is 452 miles (728 km) long and takes about 8 hr 50 min without stops or traffic. It runs mostly on US 59 (271 mi), the MEX 85 (126 mi), and I-69 (32.8 mi).

Of the 452 mi, 315 mi are in the United States and 137 mi are in Mexico. That’s an average of 51 mph (83 km/h). AAA recommends a break every two hours or 100 miles: with 4 stops of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 10 hr 10 min. The time is OSRM’s estimate with OpenStreetMap data: no traffic and speeds somewhat below the limits, so real trips can differ.

Straight-line distance and bearing

In a straight line, the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, Houston and Monterrey are 413 miles (665 km) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 9% longer: for every 100 miles in a straight line you drive 109. The route runs almost straight. Of the 16 US–Canada and US–Mexico driving pairs in this series, it ranks 15th for detour (the average is 22%).

From Houston, Monterrey lies to the southwest (bearing 228°), and from Monterrey, Houston lies to the northeast. The straight line reaches Monterrey on a bearing of 226°: on a sphere the bearing keeps changing along the way, which is why the shortest route looks slightly curved on a flat map.

Halfway between Houston and Monterrey

Halfway along the straight line, 207 miles (333 km) from each city, is the point 27.7463° N, 97.8864° W. It falls near Agua Dulce (Texas, pop. 662), 2.9 mi away.

By road, the halfway point is 226 miles (364 km) from each city, near Amargosa (Texas, pop. 60), 20.3 mi away. The nearest town of 20,000 people or more is Nuevo Laredo (Tamaulipas, Mexico, pop. 416,055), 86.4 mi away. The two midpoints are 36.8 mi apart: if you want to meet halfway, the one on the road is the useful one.

Time difference and flight

In winter, Monterrey is on the same time as Houston; in summer, 1 hour behind Houston. It changes because they don’t switch to summer time together.

A direct flight would take about 1 hr 20 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 665 km straight line at 800 km/h (about 497 mph), a typical airliner cruising speed. Real schedules depend on wind, routing and airports, and not every pair has a direct flight.

The two cities

Houston has 2.4 million people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025) and Monterrey 1.1 million people (GeoNames).