City comparison
Chicago, IL is about 900 miles (1,500 km) from Colorado Springs, CO in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,200 miles, or about 19 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 Chicago, IL to Colorado Springs, CO takes about 1 h 50 min, covering roughly 900 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.
Chicago, IL is on Central Time and Colorado Springs, CO is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Chicago, it's 11 a.m. in Colorado Springs, which puts Chicago 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 479,612 in Colorado Springs — about 5.7× larger by population. By land area, Chicago covers about 230 sq mi vs 200 sq mi for Colorado Springs.
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 | Chicago | Colorado Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,314/mo | $1,464/mo | 11.4% higher in Colorado Springs |
| Median home value | $304,500 | $383,000 | 25.8% higher in Colorado Springs |
| Median household income | $71,673 | $79,026 | 10.3% higher in Colorado Springs |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 96.8 | 9.9% higher in Chicago |
| Utilities index | 84.4 | 87.0 | 3.1% higher in Colorado Springs |
| Transportation index | 100.3 | 100.3 | ≈ equal (Chicago slightly higher) |
| Healthcare index | 100.2 | 100.2 | ≈ equal |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Chicago, you'd need $100,660 in Colorado Springs to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Chicago, IL is about 0.7% cheaper overall than Colorado Springs, CO, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 4% higher in Colorado Springs than in Chicago. If you earn $80,000 in Chicago, you'd need about $80,528 in Colorado Springs to keep the same standard of living.