City comparison
Camden, NJ is about 650 miles (1,100 km) from Chicago, IL in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 850 miles, or about 14 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 Camden, NJ to Chicago, IL takes about 1 h 20 min, covering roughly 650 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.
Camden, NJ is on Eastern Time and Chicago, IL is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Camden, it's 11 a.m. in Chicago, which puts Camden 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 71,799 in Camden — about 37.9× larger by population. By land area, Chicago covers about 230 sq mi vs 8.9 sq mi for Camden.
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 | Camden | Chicago | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,091/mo | $1,314/mo | 20.4% higher in Chicago |
| Median home value | $95,700 | $304,500 | 218.2% higher in Chicago |
| Median household income | $36,258 | $71,673 | 97.7% higher in Chicago |
| Groceries index | 97.2 | 106.4 | 9.4% higher in Chicago |
| Utilities index | 113.0 | 84.4 | 34.0% higher in Camden |
| Transportation index | 102.4 | 100.3 | 2.1% higher in Camden |
| Healthcare index | 103.2 | 100.2 | 3.0% higher in Camden |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Camden, you'd need $98,520 in Chicago to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Chicago, IL is about 1.5% cheaper overall than Camden, NJ, based on our cost-of-living index. If you earn $80,000 in Camden, you'd need about $78,816 in Chicago to keep the same standard of living.