North Carolina events › Answers › How Far Is It Across North Carolina?
North Carolina is about 476 miles from its western to its eastern town points in a straight line, from Murphy to Nags Head, and about 197 miles from Milton in the north to Bald Head Island in the south. Driving distance is longer; we compute straight-line miles only.
- West to East476 miMurphy to Nags Head
- North to South197 miMilton to Bald Head Island
- Places Checked552cities, towns, villages
- MethodStraight LineCensus Gazetteer
How We Worked It Out
We took the Census Bureau Gazetteer point for every incorporated city, town and village in North Carolina and found the westernmost, easternmost, northernmost and southernmost. Distances use the great-circle formula between those points. This is our own arithmetic on Census data, marked derived; it is not a driving distance and not a state boundary measurement.
| Direction | Place | Latitude, Longitude |
|---|---|---|
| West | Murphy | 35.094, -84.025 |
| East | Nags Head | 35.948, -75.626 |
| North | Milton | 36.538, -79.208 |
| South | Bald Head Island | 33.866, -77.981 |
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer, place file.
For Drive Times, Use The Table
Typical drive times from five cities to 20 destinations are in the drive times file and summarised on the visitor guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why not give a driving time across the state?
We hold no sourced end-to-end drive time. The drive-times file covers specific routes read from Google Maps on one day.
Is Bald Head Island the southernmost point?
It is the southernmost incorporated village point in the Census file. The state’s southern boundary and unincorporated land are not measured here.
What We Could Not Confirm
- The Gazetteer lists incorporated places only; unincorporated communities or the state boundary itself may extend further.
Sources
Read on October 27, 2026. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? Tell us.
Cite this page: It's North Carolina, “How Far Is It Across North Carolina?”, itsnorthcarolina.com/answers/how-far-is-it-across-north-carolina/ (updated ). By the It's North Carolina editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.