Broke small-time rancher Dan Evans is hired by the stagecoach line to put big-time captured outlaw leader Ben Wade on the 3:10 train to Yuma but Wade's gang tries to free him.

After outlaw leader Ben Wade is captured in a small town, his gang continues to threaten. Small-time rancher Dan Evans is persuaded to take Wade (in secret) to the nearest town with a railway station to await the train to the court in Yuma. Once the two are holed up in the hotel to wait, it becomes apparent the secret is out and a battle of wills starts.