Major airports by distance from "downtown"

[iheartthed]

Initial list is limited to 35 busiest U.S. airports in 2021. The initial list was limited to the 35 busiest U.S. airports but is gradually being updated to include other airports in the U.S. and other countries. Distances are calculated by mapping car or bike route from city centers to airport using Google Maps and taking the shortest distance. Feel free to add other airport distances that are not included. List is ordered by distance from "downtown".

1. Aeroporto Santos Dumont* (Rio de Janeiro), 1 mile
2. San Diego International Airport (San Diego), 2 miles
3. Logan International Airport (Boston), 3 miles***
4. San Jose International Airport (San Jose, CA), 3 miles
5. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (Phoenix), 4 miles
6. Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (Fort Lauderdale), 4 miles
7. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport* (Washington, D.C.), 5 miles
8. Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (Honolulu), 5 miles
9. Harry Reid International Airport (Las Vegas), 6 miles
10. Salt Lake City International Airport (Salt Lake City), 6 miles
11. Dallas Love Field* (Dallas), 6 miles
12. Charlotte Douglas International Airport (Charlotte), 6.5 miles
13. Miami International Airport (Miami), 7 miles
14. Tampa International Airport (Tampa), 7 miles
15. LaGuardia Airport* (New York City), 7 miles**
16. Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (Austin), 7 miles
17. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Atlanta), 8 miles
18. Philadelphia International Airport (Philadelphia), 8 miles
19. Nashville International Airport (Nashville), 8 miles
20. Portland International Airport (Portland), 9 miles
21. William P. Hobby Airport* (Houston), 9 miles
22. Midway International Airport* (Chicago), 10 miles
23. Montreal Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport (Montreal), 11 miles
24. Orlando International Airport (Orlando), 11 miles
25. Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (Seattle), 12 miles
26. Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (Minneapolis), 12 miles
27. San Francisco International Airport (San Francisco), 12 miles
28. Baltimore/Washington International Airport (Baltimore), 12 miles
29. St. Louis Lambert International Airport (St. Louis), 13 miles
30. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (Cleveland), 13 miles
31. Oakland International Airport* (San Francisco), 14 miles
32. O'Hare International Airport (Chicago), 15 miles
33. John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York City), 15 miles**
34. Newark Liberty International Airport* (New York City), 17 miles**
35. Los Angeles International Airport (Los Angeles), 18 miles
36. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (Dallas & Ft. Worth), 20 miles
37. George Bush Intercontinental Airport (Houston), 20 miles
38. Detroit Metropolitan Airport (Detroit), 20 miles
39. Washington Dulles International Airport (Washington, D.C.), 25 miles
40. Denver International Airport (Denver), 27 miles

*Not the busiest airport serving the city
**Distances for New York City are measured from midtown Manhattan
***Boston distance measured using bike route that includes ferry ride

[Steely Dan]

i'm not surprised that DEN "wins" this one.

the drive into the city goes through some pretty empty country:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.8247...7i16384!8i8192

the first time i ever flew into DEN i remember thinking to myself "where the fuck is denver?" on the drive into the city.

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Midway International Airport* (Chicago), 11 miles

the main car route from the loop to MDW is 11 miles because it takes you down the stevenson expressway, which adds a mile to the journey.

the more direct biking route down archer ave. is only 10 miles.



it would also be interesting to tabulate average travel times on transit to these airports as well because, as mentioned in the other thread, the driving routes to many of these airports are often full-blown parking lots much of the time.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

the more direct biking route down archer ave. is only 10 miles.

Updated the OP to reflect

[Buckeye Native 001]

People wonder why Phoenix's skyline is so underwhelming: Sky Harbor is partly the reason.

Also, it was technically out in the middle of nowhere when it was originally established in the late 1920s.

While not technically "major", CMH is 6.5 miles from Downtown Columbus and CVG is 13.4 miles from Downtown Cincinnati, and in another state.

[Riverranchdrone]

Those top 5 or 6 cities being too close to their airports are why there downtowns are so flat and underwhelming. But Denver being that far away is just crazy.

[homebucket]

How is downtown being defined here?

[202_Cyclist]

Yes, Dulles is 25 miles from DC but it is very convenient to the jobs in Tysons and the Dulles corridor (Reston - Herndon), which are major employment centers in the region.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by homebucket

How is downtown being defined here?

Using the Google Maps definition of a city's downtown.

[TempleGuy1000]

I'm a big fan of this visualization from u/PeterVexillographer on Reddit

Full-Size
https://www.reddit.com/user/PeterVexillographer/

[MolsonExport]

Downtown Montreal to Montreal Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport: 11 miles (17.7 kms)
Downtown Montreal to Montreal Mirabel International Airport: 34.8 miles (!!) (56 kms)

The insane distance plus a lack of direct/train access why the latter airport ended up as Canada's biggest ever White Elephant. It was the largest airport in the world at the time it was opened.




wikipedia

[homebucket]

SJC to downtown SJ is 3.1 miles by bicycle.

[dave8721]

How on earth are they getting 7 miles for MIA from downtown Miami? Its closer to 4.something miles. The airport is 5 miles wide from E-W so maybe they are measuring to the midpoint of the airport? Or midpoint of downtown to midpoint of the airport rather than the closest part of downtown to the closest part of the airport?

Edit, I see. You are using driving distances which would wind through various freeways.

[homebucket]

OAK to downtown Oakland is 8.5 miles by car.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Downtown Montreal to Montreal Mirabel International Airport: 34.8 miles (!!) (56 kms)

The insane distance plus a lack of direct/train access why the latter airport ended up as Canada's biggest ever White Elephant.

a good instructive lesson for the goofballs who still think that building a proposed 3rd chicagoland airport down near Peotone, IL is a good idea.

if it ever comes to fruition (and let's pray it doesn't), it'd be a roughly 45 mile drive from downtown chicago.

[homebucket]

SFO to downtown SF should be 14.2 miles.

[xzmattzx]

What is considered Downtown? The center of it, or the edge of it?

What is considered the airport? The entire footprint, the runways, or the terminal buildings?

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by dave8721

How on earth are they getting 7 miles for MIA from downtown Miami? Its closer to 4.something miles. The airport is 5 miles wide from E-W so maybe they are measuring to the midpoint of the airport? Or midpoint of downtown to midpoint of the airport rather than the closest part of downtown to the closest part of the airport?

Edit, I see. You are using driving distances which would wind through various freeways.

Actually, I used the bike route for MIA. The driving route was 8 miles.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

What is considered Downtown? The center of it, or the edge of it?

What is considered the airport? The entire footprint, the runways, or the terminal buildings?

these are good questions, because when i google map the driving distance from chicago city hall (in the heart of the loop) to ORD's various terminals, i get the following distances:

city hall to terminal 5: 17.1 miles
city hall to terminal 1: 17.6 miles
city hall to terminal 2: 17.8 miles
city hall to terminal 3: 18.0 miles


so ORD's real distance from the loop (or at least the distance people need to drive to get to one of the actual terminals) is closer to 17.5 miles than it is to 15 miles.

[mrnyc]

cleveland hopkins is 9 miles from downtown. being in birthplace of flight ohio and thus one of the first airports, today it’s too close and hemmed in.

trivia: hopkins is uniquely shared with nasa glenn research center and basically the modern airport as we know it today was invented there. its primary firsts, which are standard in airports today, include: first municipally owned, first control tower, first radar system, first airfield lighting system, first two level design seperating arrivals/departures and first to be connected to the local rail transit.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

What is considered Downtown? The center of it, or the edge of it?

What is considered the airport? The entire footprint, the runways, or the terminal buildings?

I'm simply typing in the relevant airport code and downtown [insert city] into the Google Maps fields and hitting go.