North Carolina

Distance from Durham to Raleigh

Straight-line distance

17.6mi

Durham, NC and Raleigh, NC are 17.6 miles (28.3 km) apart in a straight line. From Durham, the shortest path starts out heading SE (125°).

kilometers
28.3
nautical miles
15.3
heading from Durham
125° SE
heading from Raleigh
305° NW
DurhamRaleigh

Orange line: great-circle path · ring: midpoint · thin lines: county borders

How far Durham is from Raleigh

The great-circle distance between the Census internal points of Durham and Raleigh is 17.6 miles, 28.3 km or 15.3 nautical miles. That is the shortest path over the Earth's surface, computed with the haversine formula on a sphere with the mean Earth radius, 6,371.0 km. A course held on one compass bearing (a rhumb line) would be 17.6 miles, practically the same at this range.

Measurements

Miles
17.6
Kilometers
28.3
Nautical miles
15.3
Bearing from Durham
125.0° SE
Bearing arriving at Raleigh
125.1°
Bearing from Raleigh
305.1° NW

Halfway between Durham and Raleigh

The great-circle midpoint is at 35.904969, -78.769431 (35°54'17.89"N 78°46'9.95"W). The nearest incorporated place of 1,000 or more people is Morrisville, NC, with 32,628 residents, 6.2 miles from the midpoint. To find towns near the midpoint of any two places, use the halfway tool.

Time zones and daylight

Both use America/New_York, so there is no time difference. On June 21, Durham gets 14 h 36 min of daylight and Raleigh 14 h 36 min; on December 21, 9 h 43 min and 9 h 44 min. The two sit at nearly the same latitude, so their day lengths match closely all year.

Population compared

Raleigh has 1.7 times the population of Durham. From July 2020 to July 2024, Durham changed by +7.2% and Raleigh by +7.3%. Both are in North Carolina.

  1. 01Durham, NC301,870 (+7.2%)
  2. 02Raleigh, NC499,825 (+7.3%)
July 1, 2024 population and change since July 2020, Census Vintage 2024.

Questions people ask

How far is Durham from Raleigh?

17.6 miles, 28.3 km or 15.3 nautical miles along the great circle between the two Census internal points. Road distance is longer.

Which direction is Raleigh from Durham?

SE. The great-circle path leaves Durham on a bearing of 125.0° and arrives at Raleigh on 125.1°. The return trip starts on 305.1°.

What is halfway between Durham and Raleigh?

The midpoint is at 35.904969, -78.769431. The nearest incorporated place of 1,000+ is Morrisville, NC, 6.2 miles from it.

Is there a time difference between Durham and Raleigh?

Both use America/New_York, so there is no time difference.

Which is bigger, Durham or Raleigh?

Raleigh, with 499,825 residents in July 2024 against 301,870 for Durham, 1.7 times as many.

Sources and data as of

Data as of: Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and Vintage 2024 estimates; time zones from Open-Meteo.

  1. 01Census 2024 Gazetteer, places
  2. 02Census Vintage 2024 subcounty population estimates
  3. 03SunCalc library (Vladimir Agafonkin), algorithms after Jean Meeus
  4. 04IANA time zone database (clock times and daylight saving rules)

How every number is computed: methodology. Spotted a wrong figure? Report an error.