Distances from Aberdeen, SD to nearby cities and major US destinations
Drive times and estimated fuel costs from Aberdeen, SD to the towns around it and to the major cities most people head for. Pick any row for the full route.
Aberdeen, SD sits in South Dakota, on Chicago time, at 45.46° north and 98.49° west. The nearest place of any size is Watertown, SD, about 90 miles away — roughly 1 hr 48 min of driving.
Counting only places above twenty thousand people, 7 are within three hours' driving of Aberdeen, SD and 72 within six — which is a better measure of how connected a town is than its position on a map. The nearest city of real size is Minneapolis, MN, about 297 miles out.
The two lists below answer different questions. The first is what is physically close, which is what you want for an errand or a day out. The second is the major cities people actually drive to from here, which is usually a longer trip and a different kind of plan. Every figure is an estimated road distance rather than a routed one, and every drive time assumes free-flowing traffic with no allowance for a stop — how the estimate works. For a pair that is not listed here, the calculator will work out any two US cities.
Which way the driving goes from Aberdeen, SD
Reachable places are rarely spread evenly around a town, and they are not around Aberdeen, SD. Of everything above twenty thousand people within three hours' drive, the largest share — 3 of 7 — lies to the northeast, with 2 to the northwest. Only 2 sit to the southeast. That asymmetry is usually geography rather than road building: coastline, a state line, mountains or simply empty country in one direction and settlement in another.
2 of those places are in South Dakota and 5 are across a state line, which matters more than the mileage does. Speed limits, phone rules and what you may do at a red light are all set state by state, so a drive of the same length can be governed by two sets of rules or by one. The state-by-state differences are set out separately.
The major-city list below spans a wide range: Chicago, IL is about 691 miles out, roughly 10 hr 58 min of driving, while Queens, NY is around 1,551 miles — a different order of trip entirely, and one to plan in stages rather than as a day. 1 of the 10 routes below have a page of their own, with the towns along the way and how flying compares.
One thing none of these figures account for: the distance is the same in both directions but the drive often is not. A route that climbs on the way out descends on the way back, rush hour is in one direction in the morning and the other in the evening, and a mountain pass can be open one way and closed the other in winter. The estimate here is symmetrical because the road is; the day is not. For a long haul out of Aberdeen, SD, the road safety guides cover the part the mileage leaves out.
Closest cities to Aberdeen, SD
- Watertown, SD 90 mi · 1 hr 48 min
- Brookings, SD 133 mi · 2 hr 13 min
- West Fargo, ND 143 mi · 2 hr 23 min
- Fargo, ND 147 mi · 2 hr 27 min
- Moorhead, MN 148 mi · 2 hr 28 min
- Bismarck, ND 167 mi · 2 hr 47 min
- Mandan, ND 172 mi · 2 hr 52 min
- Sioux Falls, SD 184 mi · 3 hr 4 min
- Grand Forks, ND 213 mi · 3 hr 33 min
- Saint Cloud, MN 243 mi · 4 hr 3 min
Major cities from Aberdeen, SD
- Chicago, IL 691 mi · 10 hr 58 min
- Houston, TX 1274 mi · 20 hr 13 min
- Phoenix, AZ 1275 mi · 20 hr 14 min
- San Antonio, TX 1286 mi · 20 hr 24 min
- Philadelphia, PA 1486 mi · 23 hr 35 min
- Los Angeles, CA 1516 mi · 24 hr 4 min
- Manhattan, NY 1539 mi · 24 hr 26 min
- New York City, NY 1541 mi · 24 hr 27 min
- Brooklyn, NY 1547 mi · 24 hr 33 min
- Queens, NY 1551 mi · 24 hr 37 min