Dallas to Austin distance

Dallas to Austin by road

The fastest driving route is 195 miles (314 km) long and takes about 3 hr 30 min without stops or traffic. Almost all of it is on I-35: 193 mi of 195 mi.

The whole route stays in Texas. That’s an average of 56 mph (91 km/h). AAA recommends a break every two hours or 100 miles: with 1 stop of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 3 hr 50 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, Dallas and Austin are 182 miles (293 km) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 7% longer: for every 100 miles in a straight line you drive 107. The route runs almost straight. Of the 40 US pairs in this series, it ranks 37th for detour (the average is 14%).

From Dallas, Austin lies to the south (bearing 198°), and from Austin, Dallas lies to the north.

Halfway between Dallas and Austin

Halfway along the straight line, 91.0 miles (146 km) from each city, is the point 31.5261° N, 97.2811° W. It falls near Willow Grove (Texas, pop. 2,080), 2.4 mi away.

By road, the halfway point is 97.6 miles (157 km) from each city, near Willow Grove (Texas, pop. 2,080), 9.7 mi away. The two midpoints are 8.2 mi apart: if you want to meet halfway, the one on the road is the useful one.

Time zone and flight

Dallas and Austin share the same time all year: both are on Central Time.

No flight time is given: under 500 km (311 miles) in a straight line, time at the airport outweighs time in the air.

The two cities

Dallas and Austin sit at almost the same elevation: 428 ft (130 m) and 487 ft (148 m).

Dallas has 1.3 million people and Austin 1.0 million people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025).