San Francisco to Las Vegas distance

San Francisco to Las Vegas by road

The fastest driving route is 568 miles (914 km) long and takes about 10 hr 35 min without stops or traffic. It runs mostly on I-5 (193 mi), I-15 (158 mi), and CA 58 (143 mi).

It goes through 2 states: California (520 mi) and Nevada (44.0 mi). That’s an average of 54 mph (87 km/h). AAA recommends a break every two hours or 100 miles: with 5 stops of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 12 hr 15 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, San Francisco and Las Vegas are 418 miles (672 km) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 36% longer: for every 100 miles in a straight line you drive 136. That’s a big detour: the fastest route strays quite far from the straight line. Of the 40 US pairs in this series, it ranks 3rd for detour (the average is 14%).

From San Francisco, Las Vegas lies to the east (bearing 103°), and from Las Vegas, San Francisco lies to the west. The straight line reaches Las Vegas on a bearing of 107°: 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 San Francisco and Las Vegas

Halfway along the straight line, 209 miles (336 km) from each city, is the point 37.0309° N, 118.7402° W. It falls near Wilsonia (California, pop. 31), 23.7 mi away.

By road, the halfway point is 284 miles (457 km) from each city, in Casa Loma (California, pop. 1,587). The nearest town of 20,000 people or more is East Niles (California, pop. 28,532), 5.0 mi away. The two midpoints are 117 mi apart: if you want to meet halfway, the one on the road is the useful one.

Time zone and flight

San Francisco and Las Vegas share the same time all year: both are on Pacific Time.

A direct flight would take about 1 hr 20 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 672 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

San Francisco sits at 55 ft (17 m) and Las Vegas at 1,996 ft (608 m), 1,941 ft (592 m) higher.

San Francisco has 826,079 people and Las Vegas 679,817 people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025).