Distance Between Two Cities

Each figure below is measured between the two city centres, so it is exact and identical in both directions, and always shorter than the drive. Pick your own pair in the tool above to get the road mileage and what the trip is worth at IRS, HMRC, CRA or ATO rates.

Distances calculated from GeoNames city coordinates with the same great-circle formula as the tool above.

1. Enter the city you left and the city you arrived in. Add the state, province or country when the name is ambiguous, because there are several Springfields and the tool has to pick the right one.
2. Read the straight-line distance first. It is measured between the two city points across the curve of the Earth, so it is exact and never depends on a routing service.
3. Check the road distance, which follows streets rather than a straight line. It is longer than the straight-line figure whenever the route has to go around a coastline, a mountain range or a one-way system.
4. Put the road figure in your mileage log, with the date, the destination and the business reason for the trip.

Any road distance comes with an estimated driving time. Treat it as a planning figure: it does not know about traffic on the day, stops you take, or the difference between the fastest route and the shortest one.

Log a multi-day or multi-stop trip leg by leg rather than as one round number. Rate tiers, per-trip thresholds and the business-purpose record all apply to individual journeys, so a single total is harder to defend later.

If the two cities are on different continents, road distance is not a reimbursement number at all. You would fly, and a flight is not a business mileage claim. The straight-line figure is there for context only.

Once you have the distance, the value of the trip is that distance multiplied by the rate for your country and tax year. Use the result card above to see which figure applies, then carry it into a mileage log or claim form.

A straight-line distance joins the two city points across the surface of the Earth. It ignores roads entirely, which makes it stable, exact and identical for both directions. It is the right figure for flight distance, air miles and rough planning.

A road distance follows the network you can actually drive. It bends around coastlines, mountain ranges, rivers and city streets, so it is always at least as long as the straight-line figure and usually noticeably longer where no direct highway exists.

For mileage reimbursement this distinction decides whether a claim is defensible. IRS, HMRC, CRA and ATO rules all ask for the business distance you travelled, and that means the road distance in your mileage log, not the as-the-crow-flies figure between two city centres.