City comparison
Lincoln, NE is about 1,100 miles (1,800 km) from Philadelphia, PA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,400 miles, or about 24 hours (about 2 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 Lincoln, NE to Philadelphia, PA takes about 2 h 16 min, covering roughly 1,100 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.
Lincoln, NE is on Central Time and Philadelphia, PA is on Eastern Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Lincoln, it's 1 p.m. in Philadelphia, which puts Lincoln 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.
Philadelphia has a population of 1,593,208, vs 290,531 in Lincoln — about 5.5× larger by population. By land area, Philadelphia covers about 135 sq mi vs 100 sq mi for Lincoln.
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 | Lincoln | Philadelphia | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $998/mo | $1,250/mo | 25.3% higher in Philadelphia |
| Median home value | $230,400 | $215,500 | 6.9% higher in Lincoln |
| Median household income | $67,846 | $57,537 | 17.9% higher in Lincoln |
| Groceries index | 94.3 | 97.0 | 2.9% higher in Philadelphia |
| Utilities index | 78.2 | 112.3 | 43.7% higher in Philadelphia |
| Transportation index | 93.3 | 101.7 | 9.0% higher in Philadelphia |
| Healthcare index | 93.5 | 102.7 | 9.8% higher in Philadelphia |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Lincoln, you'd need $120,640 in Philadelphia to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Lincoln, NE is about 17.1% cheaper overall than Philadelphia, PA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 34% higher in Philadelphia than in Lincoln. If you earn $80,000 in Lincoln, you'd need about $96,512 in Philadelphia to keep the same standard of living.