New York to Dallas distance

New York to Dallas by road

The fastest driving route is 1,549 miles (2,492 km) long and takes about 28 hr 15 min without stops or traffic. It runs mostly on I-40 (550 mi), I-81 (525 mi), and I-30 (314 mi).

It crosses 7 states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas. The longest stretch is in Tennessee, at 500 mi. That’s an average of 55 mph (88 km/h). AAA recommends a break every two hours or 100 miles: with 14 stops of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 32 hr 55 min. At about 8 hours behind the wheel a day, it’s a 4-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, New York and Dallas are 1,373 miles (2,210 km) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 13% longer: for every 100 miles in a straight line you drive 113. That’s a normal detour between two cities. Of the 110 US driving pairs in this series, it ranks 64th for detour (the average is 16%).

From New York, Dallas lies to the west (bearing 254°), and from Dallas, New York lies to the northeast. The straight line reaches Dallas on a bearing of 240°: 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 New York and Dallas

Halfway along the straight line, 687 miles (1,105 km) from each city, is the point 37.2997° N, 86.0018° W. It falls near Bonnieville (Kentucky, pop. 275), 7.7 mi away.

By road, the halfway point is 774 miles (1,246 km) from each city, near Bowman (Tennessee, pop. 422), 4.9 mi away. The two midpoints are 105 mi apart: if you want to meet halfway, the one on the road is the useful one.

Time difference and flight

Dallas is 1 hour behind New York all year (Central Time versus Eastern Time): when it’s 12:00 in New York, it’s 11:00 in Dallas.

A direct flight would take about 3 hr 15 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 2,210 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

New York sits at 35 ft (11 m) and Dallas at 428 ft (130 m), 393 ft (120 m) higher.

New York has 8.6 million people and Dallas 1.3 million people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025).