Mileage sign

A mileage sign on a highway is a type of road sign that displays the distance from the current point on a highway to a certain city, destination, or a junction sign another highway. The destinations listed can range from a short distance away, such as a few miles or kilometers, to long distances away, such as a hundred or couple hundred miles of kilometers away.

A mileage sign on I-70 in Pennsylvania showing the distance in miles to Hancock, Washington, and Baltimore. The distance ranges from 3 to 108 miles.

Generally, the distance that is calculated for these signs is not the distance to the border or city limits, but rather to the estimated “center” of a city. They also aren't calculated by a straight-line from the sign to the city, but instead the distance along the ideally-quickest route to take, taking into account all the turns and curves drivers will take, and the distance may not be perfect. For example, U.S. Route 50, a cross-country route, has a sign in Sacramento, California stating that Ocean City, Maryland, its eastern endpoint, was 3,037 miles (4,888 km) away, whereas a sign in Ocean City once said that Sacramento was 3,073 miles (4,946 km) away.

They are different from reassurance signs which are signs that show the route number(s) of the highway a driver is on. The picture has a mileage sign with a reassurance sign of Interstate 70 in the background.