Trip Cost by Route
Real driving distance and fuel cost estimates for 30 routes, both directions of every curated city pair. Open a route for a prefilled calculator and a cost breakdown by vehicle type.
Budgeting fuel for a road trip
The three numbers that decide what a trip costs are distance, your vehicle's fuel economy, and the fuel price along your route. Distance and typical driving time for each route below come from real routing data rather than a straight line estimate, so the numbers reflect an actual practical drive. Fuel economy and price are the two variables most within your control: a more efficient vehicle and a lower price per gallon both cut cost directly, and sustained highway speed matters more than either, since fuel economy drops noticeably at speeds above about 65 mph.
Each route page breaks cost down by vehicle category, from an efficient economy car to a full-size truck, so you can see the real spread in what the same trip costs depending on what you drive, using one representative vehicle from each category in the dataset tracked on this site.
Longer routes bring planning considerations beyond just fuel cost. Each route page below estimates how many fuel stops a typical vehicle will need based on its actual distance, and flags when a route is long enough that most drivers should plan at least one overnight stop rather than attempting it in a single day, generally anything beyond about 8 to 10 hours of driving.
- New York to Los Angeles2,798 miles
- Los Angeles to New York2,798 miles
- Chicago to Los Angeles2,018 miles
- Los Angeles to Chicago2,018 miles
- New York to Miami1,279 miles
- Miami to New York1,279 miles
- Seattle to Denver1,303 miles
- Denver to Seattle1,303 miles
- Dallas to Los Angeles1,438 miles
- Los Angeles to Dallas1,438 miles
- New York to Boston214 miles
- Boston to New York214 miles
- Los Angeles to San Francisco381 miles
- San Francisco to Los Angeles381 miles
- Chicago to Detroit282 miles
- Detroit to Chicago282 miles
- Houston to Dallas239 miles
- Dallas to Houston239 miles
- Atlanta to Nashville247 miles
- Nashville to Atlanta247 miles
- Denver to Salt Lake City519 miles
- Salt Lake City to Denver519 miles
- Phoenix to Las Vegas286 miles
- Las Vegas to Phoenix286 miles
- San Francisco to Sacramento86 miles
- Sacramento to San Francisco86 miles
- Washington to Baltimore39 miles
- Baltimore to Washington39 miles
- Orlando to Tampa85 miles
- Tampa to Orlando85 miles
Frequently asked questions
Divide the total driving distance by your vehicle's fuel economy to get the fuel needed, then multiply by the price per gallon or liter you expect to pay. For a multi-day trip, do this separately for each leg if you expect fuel prices to differ along the route, since prices commonly vary by fifty cents or more per gallon between states.
Yes, noticeably. Aerodynamic drag increases with the square of speed, so fuel economy drops roughly 7 to 14% for every 10 mph driven above about 65 mph. On a 1,000 mile trip, holding 65 mph instead of 75 mph can save $20 to $40 in fuel at typical prices, on top of being safer.
It's worth checking. Gas prices can vary by a dollar or more per gallon between neighboring states, mainly due to differences in state fuel taxes, required fuel blends, and distance from supply. Check the gas prices section for the states along your route before a long trip if timing your fill-ups could save you money.
Each route's distance and driving time comes from real routing data between the two city centers, not a straight-line estimate, so it reflects an actual practical driving path rather than an as-the-crow-flies distance.
No, these figures cover fuel only. Tolls, food, lodging, and vehicle wear are real costs on a longer trip but vary too much by route and personal choice to estimate reliably here; budget for them separately alongside the fuel cost shown.
Keeping tires properly inflated, removing a roof box or cargo carrier when not needed, using cruise control on flat highway stretches, and avoiding unnecessary idling all measurably improve real world fuel economy. None of these matter as much as driving speed on a long highway trip, but combined they can meaningfully close the gap between a vehicle's EPA rating and what you actually see on the road.
As a rough guide, expect a fuel stop roughly every 300 to 400 miles for a typical vehicle, though your own vehicle's tank size and real-world fuel economy will shift that number in either direction. Each route page below includes a specific stop estimate based on its actual distance.
Generally yes for anything beyond about 8 to 10 hours of driving in a single day, which is the commonly recommended limit for a solo driver. Breaking a long cross-country route into two or more days is both safer and more realistic than pushing straight through, and each longer route page below notes when an overnight stop is worth planning for.
That's just a generic starting point so the calculator shows a result before you've entered anything specific. Replace it with the combined fuel economy of the vehicle you're actually planning to drive, available on this site's own vehicle pages or your vehicle's window sticker, for a result that reflects your real trip.
Actual driving distance. Each route below uses real routing data along real roads between the two city centers, not a straight-line estimate, so the distance and time figures reflect a practical drive rather than an idealized shortest path.