City comparison
McLean, VA is about 2,400 miles (3,900 km) from San Mateo, CA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 3,000 miles, or about 51 hours (about 5 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 Mateo, CA takes about 4 h 51 min, covering roughly 2,400 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 Mateo, CA is on Pacific Time — a 3-hour difference. When it's noon in McLean, it's 9 a.m. in San Mateo, which puts McLean 3 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 Mateo has a population of 104,165, vs 49,587 in McLean — about 2.1× larger by population. By land area, McLean covers about 25 sq mi vs 12 sq mi for San Mateo.
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 Mateo | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $3,319/mo | $2,971/mo | 11.7% higher in McLean |
| Median home value | $1,257,900 | $1,508,900 | 20.0% higher in San Mateo |
| Median household income | $250,001 | $149,152 | 67.6% higher in McLean |
| Groceries index | 104.3 | 108.1 | 3.6% higher in San Mateo |
| Utilities index | 105.6 | 168.3 | 59.3% higher in San Mateo |
| Transportation index | 102.2 | 106.1 | 3.8% higher in San Mateo |
| Healthcare index | 101.6 | 106.0 | 4.3% higher in San Mateo |
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 $118,238 in San Mateo to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
McLean, VA is about 15.4% cheaper overall than San Mateo, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 23% higher in San Mateo than in McLean. If you earn $80,000 in McLean, you'd need about $94,590 in San Mateo to keep the same standard of living.