Driving between these Texas cities takes longer than crossing most states

TEXAS — Texas is the second-largest state in the U.S. by area behind Alaska, and with that size comes long distances between the state's cities. With the size of Texas being what it is, it might not be surprising that even short trips from one Texas city to another could take longer than crossing other states entirely.

For example, crossing Rhode Island would take less than an hour, according to Google Maps.

It would take nearly twice as long — around an hour and 47 minutes — to drive between Austin and San Antonio, according to Google Maps.

A trip that crosses Missouri — from Kansas City to St. Louis — would take a person 3 hours and 43 minutes, according to Google Maps.

It would take a similar amount of time — 3 hours and 42 minutes — to drive from Houston to Dallas, but it would take 4 hours and 7 minutes to drive from Houston to Fort Worth, the other major city in the metroplex.

It would take a little over 8 hours and 30 minutes to cross from the western to the eastern ends of Tennessee. According to Google Maps, it would take around 45 minutes longer - 9 hours and 14 minutes in total - to drive from Wichita Falls to McAllen, Texas.

On the extreme end of the scale, a person could cross four states — Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia — in less time than it takes to drive from El Paso to Houston. According to Google, it would take at least 10 hours and 52 minutes to make that trip.

A drive from Shreveport, Louisiana to Augusta, Georgia, would take approximately the same time to complete: 10 hours and 52 minutes.

To put the size of Texas into perspective, the Texas Panhandle town of Dalhart is closer to the state capitals of New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming than it is to Austin.