City comparison
McLean, VA is about 1,400 miles (2,200 km) from San Antonio, TX in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,700 miles, or about 29 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 McLean, VA to San Antonio, TX takes about 2 h 45 min, covering roughly 1,400 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.
McLean, VA is on Eastern Time and San Antonio, TX is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in McLean, it's 11 a.m. in San Antonio, which puts McLean 1 hours ahead.
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.
San Antonio has a population of 1,445,662, vs 49,587 in McLean — about 29.2× larger by population. By land area, San Antonio covers about 500 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 | McLean | San Antonio | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $3,319/mo | $1,189/mo | 179.1% higher in McLean |
| Median home value | $1,257,900 | $198,000 | 535.3% higher in McLean |
| Median household income | $250,001 | $59,593 | 319.5% higher in McLean |
| Groceries index | 104.3 | 94.2 | 10.7% higher in McLean |
| Utilities index | 105.6 | 83.3 | 26.8% higher in McLean |
| Transportation index | 102.2 | 96.6 | 5.7% higher in McLean |
| Healthcare index | 101.6 | 96.1 | 5.8% 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 McLean, you'd need $73,673 in San Antonio to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
San Antonio, TX is about 26.3% cheaper overall than McLean, VA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 70% higher in McLean than in San Antonio. If you earn $80,000 in McLean, you'd need about $58,938 in San Antonio to keep the same standard of living.