City comparison
Chicago, IL is about 1,700 miles (2,700 km) from Reno, NV in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 2,100 miles, or about 35 hours (about 4 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 Reno, NV takes about 3 h 22 min, covering roughly 1,700 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 Reno, NV is on Pacific Time — a 2-hour difference. When it's noon in Chicago, it's 10 a.m. in Reno, 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 265,196 in Reno — about 10.3× larger by population. By land area, Chicago covers about 230 sq mi vs 110 sq mi for Reno.
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 | Reno | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,314/mo | $1,360/mo | 3.5% higher in Reno |
| Median home value | $304,500 | $462,100 | 51.8% higher in Reno |
| Median household income | $71,673 | $73,073 | 2.0% higher in Reno |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 97.0 | 9.7% higher in Chicago |
| Utilities index | 84.4 | 92.5 | 9.6% higher in Reno |
| 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 $103,244 in Reno to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Chicago, IL is about 3.1% cheaper overall than Reno, NV, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 10% higher in Reno than in Chicago. If you earn $80,000 in Chicago, you'd need about $82,595 in Reno to keep the same standard of living.