City comparison
Chicago, IL is about 1,500 miles (2,500 km) from Las Vegas, NV in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,900 miles, or about 32 hours (about 3 days at 10 h/day) 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 Las Vegas, NV takes about 3 h 3 min, covering roughly 1,500 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 Las Vegas, NV is on Pacific Time — a 2-hour difference. When it's noon in Chicago, it's 10 a.m. in Las Vegas, which puts Chicago 2 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 644,835 in Las Vegas — about 4.2× larger by population. By land area, Chicago covers about 230 sq mi vs 140 sq mi for Las Vegas.
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 | Las Vegas | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,314/mo | $1,356/mo | 3.2% higher in Las Vegas |
| Median home value | $304,500 | $365,300 | 20.0% higher in Las Vegas |
| Median household income | $71,673 | $66,356 | 8.0% higher in Chicago |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 97.0 | 9.7% higher in Chicago |
| Utilities index | 84.4 | 93.8 | 11.1% higher in Las Vegas |
| Transportation index | 100.3 | 99.3 | 1.1% higher in Chicago |
| Healthcare index | 100.2 | 99.2 | 1.0% higher in Chicago |
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 $100,411 in Las Vegas to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Chicago and Las Vegas have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 3% higher in Las Vegas than in Chicago. If you earn $80,000 in Chicago, you'd need about $80,329 in Las Vegas to keep the same standard of living.