Together, US 83 and PTH 83 form a continuously numbered north-south highway with a combined distance of 3,450 kilometres (2,140 mi).

US 83 is a largely north–south highway, 893 miles (1,437 km) in length, in Texas except for a segment parallel to the Rio Grande, where it takes an east–west course, much of which runs concurrently with Interstate 2 (I-2).

Passing Weslaco with I-2, it begins to veer northward and passes the current western terminus of I-2 at Peñitas(A new short roadway designated as Spur 83 forms a branch from Business US 83 to I-2), follows the Rio Grande to Laredo where it meets I-35 in a 18-mile (29 km) concurrency before heading northwestward.

Except for Abilene, Laredo, and some cities in the lower Rio Grande Valley it is largely rural in nature.

US 83 traverses the Oklahoma panhandle along the western border of Beaver County, but in this brief 37-mile (60 km) stretch it encounters no fewer than three other federal highways.

At this intersection, US 270 west joins the highway, and together with US 83 proceeds northbound for the final six miles (9.7 km) to the Kansas line.

US 83 enters the Sunflower State in Seward County, approximately four miles (6.4 km) south of Liberal, where it intersects US 54 and US 270 ends.

North of Liberal, US 83 begins a concurrency with US 160, and the highways remain joined until reaching Sublette, the seat of Haskell County.

Headed toward Minot US 83 traverses mostly agricultural land, passing through the small cities of Wilton, Washburn, and Underwood north to Max.

Leaving Underwood, US 83 encounters a large strip-mining coal (lignite) operation which can be seen from the roadway in the vicinity of Falkirk.

North of the lakes, the surroundings return to cropland and grazing land, with a wind farm located south of Minot.