Purpose <p>The intrapulmonary location of a tumor is important for evaluating recurrence risk. This study assessed the prognostic impact of the tumor-pleura distance (TPd) in patients with clinical stage IA solid-predominant or pure-solid non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as well as associations with pleural invasion, recurrence, and tumor subtype defined by the consolidation-to-tumor ratio (CTR).</p> Methods <p>A total of 358 patients who underwent anatomical lung resection for clinical stage IA NSCLC between 2014 and 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. TPd and CTR were measured on preoperative computed tomography. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis for pleural invasion identified an optimal TPd cutoff of 2.0&#xa0;mm.</p> Results <p>A 2-mm cutoff classified tumors as pleura-adjacent (&lt; 2&#xa0;mm) or non-pleura-adjacent (≥ 2&#xa0;mm), with pleural invasion observed in 23.5% of pleura-adjacent and 4.5% of non-pleura-adjacent tumors (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.001). The 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate was significantly lower in the pleura-adjacent group (68.9% vs. 80.2%, <i>P</i> = 0.021). Multivariate analysis identified pleura-adjacent as an independent predictor of RFS (HR, 1.755; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.097–2.805; <i>P</i> = 0.019). In the pure-solid subgroup, pleura-adjacent tumors were an independent predictor of RFS (HR, 2.168; 95% CI 1.283–3.663; <i>P</i> = 0.004); no association was found in the solid-predominant subgroup. In the pure-solid subgroup, competing-risk analysis identified pleura-adjacent as an independent risk factor for locoregional recurrence (HR, 2.558; 95% CI 1.250–5.234; <i>P</i> = 0.010).</p> Conclusion <p>TPd &lt; 2&#xa0;mm is a radiological marker strongly associated with pleural invasion. Its adverse prognostic impact was the most evident in pure-solid tumors, in which pleura-adjacent lesions were linked to poorer RFS and higher locoregional recurrence.</p>