U.S. Route 83 is one of the longest north–south U.S. Highways in the United States, at 1,885 miles (3,034 km). Only four other north–south routes are longer: U.S. Routes 1, 41, 59 and 87. The highway's northern terminus is north of Westhope, North Dakota, at the Canadian border, where it continues as Manitoba Highway 83. The southern terminus is in Brownsville, Texas, at the Veterans International Bridge on the Mexican border, connecting with Mexican Federal Highway 180.

Despite its length it has comparatively few concurrencies with any Interstate highways, and those segments are short. In no place has it been decommissioned as a route.