City comparison
Chicago, IL is about 700 miles (1,100 km) from West New York, 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 West New York, NJ takes about 1 h 26 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 West New York, NJ is on Eastern Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Chicago, it's 1 p.m. in West New York, 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 52,438 in West New York — about 51.9× larger by population. By land area, Chicago covers about 230 sq mi vs 1 sq mi for West New York.
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 New York | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,314/mo | $1,571/mo | 19.6% higher in West New York |
| Median home value | $304,500 | $407,000 | 33.7% higher in West New York |
| Median household income | $71,673 | $70,141 | 2.2% higher in Chicago |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 109.4 | 2.9% higher in West New York |
| Utilities index | 84.4 | 124.5 | 47.6% higher in West New York |
| Transportation index | 100.3 | 105.0 | 4.6% higher in West New York |
| Healthcare index | 100.2 | 105.7 | 5.5% higher in West New York |
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 $119,663 in West New York to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Chicago, IL is about 16.4% cheaper overall than West New York, NJ, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 32% higher in West New York than in Chicago. If you earn $80,000 in Chicago, you'd need about $95,731 in West New York to keep the same standard of living.