City comparison
Brentwood, TN is about 550 miles (900 km) from McLean, VA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 700 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 Brentwood, TN to McLean, VA takes about 1 h 8 min, covering roughly 550 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.
Brentwood, TN is on Central Time and McLean, VA is on Eastern Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Brentwood, it's 1 p.m. in McLean, which puts Brentwood 1 hours behind.
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.
McLean has a population of 49,587, vs 44,830 in Brentwood — about 1.1× larger by population. By land area, Brentwood covers about 42 sq mi vs 25 sq mi for McLean.
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 | Brentwood | McLean | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,459/mo | $3,319/mo | 35.0% higher in McLean |
| Median home value | $842,400 | $1,257,900 | 49.3% higher in McLean |
| Median household income | $181,576 | $250,001 | 37.7% higher in McLean |
| Groceries index | 96.5 | 104.3 | 8.1% higher in McLean |
| Utilities index | 74.0 | 105.6 | 42.7% higher in McLean |
| Transportation index | 95.6 | 102.2 | 6.8% higher in McLean |
| Healthcare index | 95.1 | 101.6 | 6.9% higher in McLean |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Brentwood, you'd need $126,461 in McLean to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Brentwood, TN is about 20.9% cheaper overall than McLean, VA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 43% higher in McLean than in Brentwood. If you earn $80,000 in Brentwood, you'd need about $101,169 in McLean to keep the same standard of living.