City comparison
Alexandria, VA is about 600 miles (950 km) from Chicago, IL in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 750 miles, or about 12 hours behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from Alexandria, VA to Chicago, IL takes about 1 h 11 min, covering roughly 600 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
Alexandria, VA is on Eastern Time and Chicago, IL is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Alexandria, it's 11 a.m. in Chicago, which puts Alexandria 1 hours ahead.
Standard-time offsets. Daylight saving applies in both cities for most of the year (exceptions: Hawaii and most of Arizona), and the gap between the two stays the same.
Chicago has a population of 2,721,914, vs 157,594 in Alexandria — about 17.3× larger by population. By land area, Chicago covers about 230 sq mi vs 15 sq mi for Alexandria.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Alexandria | Chicago | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,983/mo | $1,314/mo | 50.9% higher in Alexandria |
| Median home value | $655,700 | $304,500 | 115.3% higher in Alexandria |
| Median household income | $113,179 | $71,673 | 57.9% higher in Alexandria |
| Groceries index | 104.6 | 106.4 | 1.7% higher in Chicago |
| Utilities index | 105.0 | 84.4 | 24.4% higher in Alexandria |
| Transportation index | 101.2 | 100.3 | 0.9% higher in Alexandria |
| Healthcare index | 101.5 | 100.2 | 1.2% higher in Alexandria |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Alexandria, you'd need $84,651 in Chicago to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Chicago, IL is about 15.3% cheaper overall than Alexandria, VA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 36% higher in Alexandria than in Chicago. If you earn $80,000 in Alexandria, you'd need about $67,721 in Chicago to keep the same standard of living.