New York to Los Angeles distance

New York to Los Angeles by road

The fastest driving route is 2,794 miles (4,496 km) long and takes about 49 hr 45 min without stops or traffic. It runs mostly on I-80 (1,473 mi), I-70 (502 mi), and I-15 (469 mi).

It crosses 12 states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. The longest stretch is in Colorado, at 455 mi. That’s an average of 56 mph (90 km/h). AAA recommends a break every two hours or 100 miles: with 24 stops of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 57 hr 45 min. At about 8 hours behind the wheel a day, it’s a 7-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 Los Angeles are 2,451 miles (3,944 km) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 14% longer: for every 100 miles in a straight line you drive 114. That’s a normal detour between two cities. Of the 40 US pairs in this series, it ranks 19th for detour (the average is 14%).

From New York, Los Angeles lies to the west (bearing 274°), and from Los Angeles, New York lies to the northeast. The straight line reaches Los Angeles on a bearing of 246°: 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 Los Angeles

Halfway along the straight line, 1,225 miles (1,972 km) from each city, is the point 39.5211° N, 97.1561° W. It falls near Morganville (Kansas, pop. 181), 4.5 mi away.

By road, the halfway point is 1,397 miles (2,248 km) from each city, near Prosser (Nebraska, pop. 78), 4.7 mi away. The two midpoints are 115 mi apart: if you want to meet halfway, the one on the road is the useful one.

Time difference and flight

Los Angeles is 3 hours behind New York all year (Pacific Time versus Eastern Time): when it’s 12:00 in New York, it’s 9:00 in Los Angeles.

A direct flight would take about 5 hr 25 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 3,944 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. Westbound flights usually take a little longer than eastbound ones because of high-altitude winds (the jet stream).

The two cities

New York sits at 35 ft (11 m) and Los Angeles at 284 ft (87 m), 249 ft (76 m) higher.

New York has 8.6 million people and Los Angeles 3.9 million people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025).