City comparison
Chicago, IL is about 700 miles (1,100 km) from Union City, NJ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 900 miles, or about 15 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 Union City, NJ takes about 1 h 25 min, covering roughly 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 Union City, NJ is on Eastern Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Chicago, it's 1 p.m. in Union City, 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 67,258 in Union City — about 40.5× larger by population. By land area, Chicago covers about 230 sq mi vs 1.3 sq mi for Union City.
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 | Union City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,314/mo | $1,415/mo | 7.7% higher in Union City |
| Median home value | $304,500 | $448,000 | 47.1% higher in Union City |
| Median household income | $71,673 | $59,967 | 19.5% higher in Chicago |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 109.4 | 2.9% higher in Union City |
| Utilities index | 84.4 | 124.5 | 47.6% higher in Union City |
| Transportation index | 100.3 | 105.0 | 4.6% higher in Union City |
| Healthcare index | 100.2 | 105.7 | 5.5% higher in Union City |
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 $119,213 in Union City to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Chicago, IL is about 16.1% cheaper overall than Union City, NJ, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 31% higher in Union City than in Chicago. If you earn $80,000 in Chicago, you'd need about $95,371 in Union City to keep the same standard of living.