Madrid to Miami distance

Madrid to Miami in a straight line

In a straight line, the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, Madrid and Miami are 7,104 km (4,414 mi) apart, 18% of the way around the Earth at the equator. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”. There’s no road between them: the straight line crosses 6,659 km of sea, 94% of the way.

From Madrid, Miami lies to the west (bearing 283°), and from Miami, Madrid lies to the northeast. The straight line reaches Miami on a bearing of 236°: the bearing keeps turning along the way (47° in all), which is why the shortest route looks curved on a flat map.

If the plane kept the same bearing all the way (257°, to the west), it would follow the rhumb line, the one that looks straight on a Mercator map: 7,289 km (4,529 mi), 184 km more (2.6% longer). That’s why long routes don’t look “straight” on a map: the curve is the short way.

What the route flies over

Under the straight line there are 6,659 km of sea (94%) and 445 km of land. In order, from Madrid: 275 km over Spain and 150 km over Portugal.

The straight line climbs to 42.0° N (at 42.0208° N, 22.8185° W), 1.6° farther north than Madrid: on a sphere that’s the short way, even if it looks like a detour on a flat map. Planes don’t follow the line exactly: they fly along airways, chase tailwinds and avoid closed airspace, but on long flights they stay close to it.

Halfway between Madrid and Miami

Halfway along the straight line, 3,552 km (2,207 mi) from each city, is the point 39.6676° N, 45.7054° W. It falls at sea; the nearest town is Witless Bay (Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, pop. 1,640), 1,023 km away.

Time difference and flight

A direct flight would take about 9 hr 25 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 7,104 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).

Miami is 6 hours behind Madrid all year (Eastern Time versus Central European Time): when it’s 12:00 in Madrid, it’s 6:00 in Miami.

With that flight time, if you leave Madrid at 10:00, you land in Miami around 13:25 (Miami time).

The two cities

Miami is 14.6° farther south than Madrid and 76.5° farther west. Madrid sits at 645 m (2,116 ft) and Miami at 6 ft (2 m). Madrid has 3.5 million people (INE population register, January 1, 2025) and Miami 489,812 people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025).