Reference

Halfway-point glossary

Plain-English definitions of the terms behind midpoint math, fair meeting spots, and group-meetup geometry. Free to cite — please link back.

Halfway point

A halfway point is the geographic midpoint between two or more locations, calculated so each party travels roughly the same distance to meet.

On MidMeetup, the halfway point is computed from latitude and longitude coordinates rather than street addresses, which gives a fairer meeting location than visually estimating from a map. For groups of three or more people, we compute the geographic centroid instead.

Geographic midpoint

The geographic midpoint between two coordinates is the point on the Earth's surface that lies along the great-circle path exactly halfway between them.

It is calculated using spherical interpolation (slerp) of latitude and longitude, not by averaging coordinates, which can drift over long distances. For short distances under a few hundred miles, the difference is negligible.

Centroid

A centroid is the arithmetic center of three or more points, used to find a fair meeting spot for a group.

For four friends scattered across a city, the centroid is the location that minimizes the average travel distance for the group. MidMeetup uses centroid math whenever a meetup has more than two participants.

Meet in the middle

Meeting in the middle means choosing a location roughly equidistant from each participant's starting point, so travel time is shared fairly.

It is the most common solution to the 'where should we meet?' problem in group chats. Tools like MidMeetup automate the geometry and add venue recommendations so the chosen spot is also worth showing up to.

Drive-time midpoint

A drive-time midpoint is the location where two drivers spend roughly the same amount of time on the road, accounting for traffic and routing — distinct from the geographic midpoint.

On routes with one highway and one back-roads option, the drive-time midpoint can sit several miles away from the geographic midpoint. MidMeetup currently ranks geographic midpoints first and surfaces venues nearby, letting users adjust for traffic in Google Maps.

Halfway point calculator

A halfway point calculator is a free online tool that takes two or more addresses and returns the midpoint plus nearby venues to meet at.

MidMeetup's halfway point calculator supports unlimited participants, 30+ vibe filters (coffee, brunch, breweries, parks, date night, ramen), and shareable invite links so friends can vote on the final venue.

Meeting halfway between two cities

To meet halfway between two cities, find the midpoint coordinates of the two city centers, then pick a venue within a few miles that has parking, decent ratings, and reasonable hours.

MidMeetup maintains curated guides for hundreds of US metro pairs (e.g., Los Angeles–San Diego, New York–Boston) with the precomputed midpoint and a shortlist of recommended places to eat or grab coffee.