New York to Seattle distance

New York to Seattle by road

The fastest driving route is 2,860 miles (4,603 km) long and takes about 50 hr 45 min without stops or traffic. It runs mostly on I-90 (993 mi), I-94 (976 mi), and I-80 (750 mi).

It crosses 11 states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington. The longest stretch is in Montana, at 703 mi. That’s an average of 56 mph (91 km/h). AAA recommends a break every two hours or 100 miles: with 25 stops of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 59 hr 5 min. At about 8 hours behind the wheel a day, it’s a 7-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 Seattle are 2,408 miles (3,876 km) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 19% longer: for every 100 miles in a straight line you drive 119. That’s a normal detour between two cities. Of the 110 US driving pairs in this series, it ranks 24th for detour (the average is 16%).

From New York, Seattle lies to the northwest (bearing 298°), and from Seattle, New York lies to the east. The straight line reaches Seattle on a bearing of 263°: 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 Seattle

Halfway along the straight line, 1,204 miles (1,938 km) from each city, is the point 46.7858° N, 96.6712° W. It falls in Sabin (Minnesota, pop. 601).

By road, the halfway point is 1,430 miles (2,302 km) from each city, near Sabin (Minnesota, pop. 601), 5.4 mi away. The two midpoints almost coincide (4.7 mi apart), because the road doesn’t stray far from the straight line.

Time difference and flight

Seattle is 3 hours behind New York all year (Pacific Time versus Eastern Time): when it’s 12:00 in New York, it’s 9:00 in Seattle.

A direct flight would take about 5 hr 20 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 3,876 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 Seattle at 173 ft (53 m), 138 ft (42 m) higher.

New York has 8.6 million people and Seattle 784,777 people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025).