New York to Chicago distance

New York to Chicago by road

The fastest driving route is 790 miles (1,271 km) long and takes about 14 hr 50 min without stops or traffic. Almost all of it is on I-80: 750 mi of 790 mi.

It goes through 5 states: New Jersey (69.0 mi), Pennsylvania (311 mi), Ohio (237 mi), Indiana (157 mi), and Illinois (14.2 mi). That’s an average of 53 mph (86 km/h). AAA recommends a break every two hours or 100 miles: with 7 stops of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 17 hr 10 min. At about 8 hours behind the wheel a day, it’s a 2-day drive. The time is OSRM’s estimate with OpenStreetMap data: no traffic and speeds somewhat below the limits, so real trips can differ.

Straight-line distance and bearing

In a straight line, the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, New York and Chicago are 714 miles (1,149 km) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 11% longer: for every 100 miles in a straight line you drive 111. The route runs almost straight. Of the 40 US pairs in this series, it ranks 26th for detour (the average is 14%).

From New York, Chicago lies to the west (bearing 281°), and from Chicago, New York lies to the east. The straight line reaches Chicago on a bearing of 272°: on a sphere the bearing keeps changing along the way, which is why the shortest route looks slightly curved on a flat map.

Halfway between New York and Chicago

Halfway along the straight line, 357 miles (574 km) from each city, is the point 41.4849° N, 80.7686° W. It falls near Kinsman Center (Ohio, pop. 765), 9.8 mi away. The nearest town of 20,000 people or more is St. Thomas (Ontario, Canada, pop. 38,909), 91.4 mi away.

By road, the halfway point is 395 miles (635 km) from each city, near Hilltop (Ohio, pop. 640), 2.4 mi away. The two midpoints are 24.6 mi apart: if you want to meet halfway, the one on the road is the useful one.

Time difference and flight

Chicago is 1 hour behind New York all year (Central Time versus Eastern Time): when it’s 12:00 in New York, it’s 11:00 in Chicago.

A direct flight would take about 1 hr 55 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 1,149 km straight line at 800 km/h (about 497 mph), a typical airliner cruising speed. Real schedules depend on wind, routing and airports, and not every pair has a direct flight.

The two cities

New York sits at 35 ft (11 m) and Chicago at 588 ft (179 m), 553 ft (169 m) higher.

New York has 8.6 million people and Chicago 2.7 million people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025).