City comparison
Chicago, IL is about 750 miles (1,200 km) from West Haven, CT in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 950 miles, or about 16 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 West Haven, CT takes about 1 h 31 min, covering roughly 750 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 West Haven, CT is on Eastern Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Chicago, it's 1 p.m. in West Haven, 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 55,336 in West Haven — about 49.2× larger by population. By land area, Chicago covers about 230 sq mi vs 11 sq mi for West Haven.
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 | West Haven | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,314/mo | $1,322/mo | 0.6% higher in West Haven |
| Median home value | $304,500 | $247,800 | 22.9% higher in Chicago |
| Median household income | $71,673 | $72,827 | 1.6% higher in West Haven |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 106.7 | ≈ equal (West Haven slightly higher) |
| Utilities index | 84.4 | 128.3 | 52.0% higher in West Haven |
| Transportation index | 100.3 | 104.3 | 3.9% higher in West Haven |
| Healthcare index | 100.2 | 105.1 | 4.8% higher in West Haven |
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 $116,573 in West Haven to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Chicago, IL is about 14.2% cheaper overall than West Haven, CT, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 25% higher in West Haven than in Chicago. If you earn $80,000 in Chicago, you'd need about $93,258 in West Haven to keep the same standard of living.