Distances from Anchorage, AK to nearby and major US cities
Drive times and estimated fuel costs from Anchorage, AK to the towns around it and to the major cities most people head for. Pick any row for the full route.
Anchorage, AK sits in Alaska, on Anchorage time, at 61.22° north and 149.90° west. The nearest place of any size is Eagle River, AK, about 18 miles away — roughly 28 min of driving. One other town of size is within an hour's drive.
Counting only places above twenty thousand people, 1 are within three hours' driving of Anchorage, AK and 2 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 Seattle, WA, about 1728 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 Anchorage, AK
Reachable places are rarely spread evenly around a town, and they are not around Anchorage, AK. Of everything above twenty thousand people within three hours' drive, the largest share — 1 of 1 — lies to the northeast. 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.
1 of those places are in Alaska and 0 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: Seattle, WA is about 1,728 miles out, roughly 27 hr 26 min of driving, while Queens, NY is around 4,075 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 Anchorage, AK, the road safety guides cover the part the mileage leaves out.
The map covers the contiguous United States, so it cannot place Anchorage, AK. Every distance and time on this page is still calculated in full.
Closest cities to Anchorage, AK
- Eagle River, AK 18 mi · 28 min
- Fairbanks, AK 301 mi · 5 hr 1 min
- Bellingham, WA 1588 mi · 25 hr 12 min
- Oak Harbor, WA 1611 mi · 25 hr 34 min
- Mount Vernon, WA 1614 mi · 25 hr 37 min
- Marysville, WA 1642 mi · 26 hr 4 min
- Lake Stevens, WA 1648 mi · 26 hr 9 min
- West Lake Stevens, WA 1648 mi · 26 hr 10 min
- Bremerton, WA 1656 mi · 26 hr 17 min
- Bainbridge Island, WA 1656 mi · 26 hr 18 min
Major cities from Anchorage, AK
- Seattle, WA 1728 mi · 27 hr 26 min
- Los Angeles, CA 2714 mi · 43 hr 5 min
- Phoenix, AZ 2952 mi · 46 hr 51 min
- Chicago, IL 3307 mi · 52 hr 29 min
- Houston, TX 3795 mi · 60 hr 14 min
- Philadelphia, PA 4050 mi · 64 hr 18 min
- Manhattan, NY 4064 mi · 64 hr 31 min
- New York City, NY 4065 mi · 64 hr 32 min
- Brooklyn, NY 4071 mi · 64 hr 37 min
- Queens, NY 4075 mi · 64 hr 41 min