Los Angeles to Miami distance

Los Angeles to Miami by road

The fastest driving route is 2,733 miles (4,398 km) long and takes about 47 hr 55 min without stops or traffic. Almost all of it is on I-10: 2,225 mi of 2,733 mi.

It crosses 8 states: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The longest stretch is in Texas, at 876 mi. That’s an average of 57 mph (92 km/h). AAA recommends a break every two hours or 100 miles: with 23 stops of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 55 hr 35 min. At about 8 hours behind the wheel a day, it’s a 6-day drive. 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, Los Angeles and Miami are 2,339 miles (3,764 km) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 17% longer: for every 100 miles in a straight line you drive 117. That’s a normal detour between two cities. Of the 110 US driving pairs in this series, it ranks 40th for detour (the average is 16%).

From Los Angeles, Miami lies to the east (bearing 94°), and from Miami, Los Angeles lies to the northwest. The straight line reaches Miami on a bearing of 113°: 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 Los Angeles and Miami

Halfway along the straight line, 1,169 miles (1,882 km) from each city, is the point 31.3296° N, 98.4002° W. It falls near Lometa (Texas, pop. 794), 7.8 mi away.

By road, the halfway point is 1,366 miles (2,199 km) from each city, near Randolph AFB (Texas, pop. 1,240), 4.1 mi away. The two midpoints are 128 mi apart: if you want to meet halfway, the one on the road is the useful one.

Time difference and flight

Miami is 3 hours ahead of Los Angeles all year (Eastern Time versus Pacific Time): when it’s 12:00 in Los Angeles, it’s 15:00 in Miami.

A direct flight would take about 5 hr 10 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 3,764 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. Westbound flights usually take a little longer than eastbound ones because of high-altitude winds (the jet stream).

The two cities

Los Angeles sits at 284 ft (87 m) and Miami at 6 ft (2 m), 278 ft (85 m) lower.

Los Angeles has 3.9 million people and Miami 489,812 people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025).