Distances from Grand Forks, ND to nearby and major US cities
Drive times and estimated fuel costs from Grand Forks, ND to the towns around it and to the major cities most people head for. Pick any row for the full route.
Grand Forks, ND sits in North Dakota, on Chicago time, at 47.93° north and 97.03° west. The nearest place of any size is West Fargo, ND, about 84 miles away — roughly 1 hr 41 min of driving.
Counting only places above twenty thousand people, 3 are within three hours' driving of Grand Forks, ND and 65 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 315 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 Grand Forks, ND
Reachable places are rarely spread evenly around a town, and they are not around Grand Forks, ND. Of everything above twenty thousand people within three hours' drive, the largest share — 3 of 3 — lies to the south. 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 North Dakota and 1 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 721 miles out, roughly 11 hr 27 min of driving, while Los Angeles, CA is around 1,688 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 Grand Forks, ND, the road safety guides cover the part the mileage leaves out.
Closest cities to Grand Forks, ND
- West Fargo, ND 84 mi · 1 hr 41 min
- Fargo, ND 85 mi · 1 hr 42 min
- Moorhead, MN 85 mi · 1 hr 43 min
- Aberdeen, SD 213 mi · 3 hr 33 min
- Bismarck, ND 222 mi · 3 hr 42 min
- Mandan, ND 227 mi · 3 hr 47 min
- Minot, ND 230 mi · 3 hr 50 min
- Watertown, SD 243 mi · 4 hr 3 min
- Saint Cloud, MN 246 mi · 4 hr 6 min
- Duluth, MN 283 mi · 4 hr 43 min
Major cities from Grand Forks, ND
- Chicago, IL 721 mi · 11 hr 27 min
- Philadelphia, PA 1459 mi · 23 hr 9 min
- Houston, TX 1459 mi · 23 hr 10 min
- Phoenix, AZ 1472 mi · 23 hr 21 min
- Manhattan, NY 1472 mi · 23 hr 22 min
- New York City, NY 1474 mi · 23 hr 24 min
- Brooklyn, NY 1480 mi · 23 hr 29 min
- Queens, NY 1484 mi · 23 hr 33 min
- San Antonio, TX 1486 mi · 23 hr 35 min
- Los Angeles, CA 1688 mi · 26 hr 47 min