City comparison
Chico, CA is about 1,800 miles (2,900 km) from Gary, IN in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 2,200 miles, or about 37 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 Chico, CA to Gary, IN takes about 3 h 36 min, covering roughly 1,800 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.
Chico, CA is on Pacific Time and Gary, IN is on Central Time — a 2-hour difference. When it's noon in Chico, it's 2 p.m. in Gary, which puts Chico 2 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.
Chico has a population of 102,790, vs 69,136 in Gary — about 1.5× larger by population. By land area, Gary covers about 50 sq mi vs 34 sq mi for Chico.
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 | Chico | Gary | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,360/mo | $929/mo | 46.4% higher in Chico |
| Median home value | $427,600 | $81,800 | 422.7% higher in Chico |
| Median household income | $65,932 | $36,874 | 78.8% higher in Chico |
| Groceries index | 105.1 | 106.3 | 1.1% higher in Gary |
| Utilities index | 155.8 | 84.3 | 84.8% higher in Chico |
| Transportation index | 100.7 | 100.2 | 0.5% higher in Chico |
| Healthcare index | 100.6 | 100.4 | ≈ equal (Chico slightly higher) |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Chico, you'd need $100,087 in Gary to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Chico and Gary have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 16% higher in Gary than in Chico. If you earn $80,000 in Chico, you'd need about $80,070 in Gary to keep the same standard of living.