City comparison
Houston, TX is about 1,200 miles (2,000 km) from McLean, VA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,500 miles, or about 25 hours (about 3 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 Houston, TX to McLean, VA takes about 2 h 25 min, covering roughly 1,200 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.
Houston, TX is on Central Time and McLean, VA is on Eastern Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Houston, it's 1 p.m. in McLean, which puts Houston 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.
Houston has a population of 2,296,253, vs 49,587 in McLean — about 46.3× larger by population. By land area, Houston covers about 640 sq mi vs 25 sq mi for McLean.
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 | Houston | McLean | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,235/mo | $3,319/mo | 168.7% higher in McLean |
| Median home value | $235,000 | $1,257,900 | 435.3% higher in McLean |
| Median household income | $60,440 | $250,001 | 313.6% higher in McLean |
| Groceries index | 100.4 | 104.3 | 3.9% higher in McLean |
| Utilities index | 96.3 | 105.6 | 9.7% higher in McLean |
| Transportation index | 95.8 | 102.2 | 6.7% higher in McLean |
| Healthcare index | 95.2 | 101.6 | 6.8% higher in McLean |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Houston, you'd need $127,764 in McLean to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Houston, TX is about 21.7% cheaper overall than McLean, VA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 55% higher in McLean than in Houston. If you earn $80,000 in Houston, you'd need about $102,211 in McLean to keep the same standard of living.