Dallas to Houston distance

Dallas to Houston by road

The fastest driving route is 240 miles (386 km) long and takes about 4 hr 15 min without stops or traffic. Almost all of it is on I-45: 237 mi of 240 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 2 stops of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 4 hr 55 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 Houston are 225 miles (362 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 38th for detour (the average is 14%).

From Dallas, Houston lies to the southeast (bearing 157°), and from Houston, Dallas lies to the north.

Halfway between Dallas and Houston

Halfway along the straight line, 112 miles (181 km) from each city, is the point 31.2754° N, 96.0735° W. It falls near Leona (Texas, pop. 173), 10.2 mi away.

By road, the halfway point is 120 miles (193 km) from each city, near Leona (Texas, pop. 173), 10.6 mi away. The two midpoints almost coincide (4.8 mi apart), because the road doesn’t stray far from the straight line.

Time zone and flight

Dallas and Houston 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 sits at 428 ft (130 m) and Houston at 36 ft (11 m), 392 ft (119 m) lower.

Dallas has 1.3 million people and Houston 2.4 million people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025).