City comparison
Chicago, IL is about 1,100 miles (1,800 km) from Palm Beach Gardens, FL in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,400 miles, or about 23 hours (about 2 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 Palm Beach Gardens, FL takes about 2 h 14 min, covering roughly 1,100 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 Palm Beach Gardens, FL is on Eastern Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Chicago, it's 1 p.m. in Palm Beach Gardens, which puts Chicago 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.
Chicago has a population of 2,721,914, vs 59,088 in Palm Beach Gardens — about 46.1× larger by population. By land area, Chicago covers about 230 sq mi vs 59 sq mi for Palm Beach Gardens.
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 | Palm Beach Gardens | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,314/mo | $2,053/mo | 56.2% higher in Palm Beach Gardens |
| Median home value | $304,500 | $482,900 | 58.6% higher in Palm Beach Gardens |
| Median household income | $71,673 | $106,544 | 48.7% higher in Palm Beach Gardens |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 103.1 | 3.1% higher in Chicago |
| Utilities index | 84.4 | 97.0 | 15.0% higher in Palm Beach Gardens |
| Transportation index | 100.3 | 108.3 | 8.0% higher in Palm Beach Gardens |
| Healthcare index | 100.2 | 107.8 | 7.6% higher in Palm Beach Gardens |
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 $121,146 in Palm Beach Gardens to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Chicago, IL is about 17.5% cheaper overall than Palm Beach Gardens, FL, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 40% higher in Palm Beach Gardens than in Chicago. If you earn $80,000 in Chicago, you'd need about $96,917 in Palm Beach Gardens to keep the same standard of living.