City comparison
McLean, VA is about 1,200 miles (2,000 km) from Sugar Land, TX in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,500 miles, or about 26 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 Sugar Land, TX takes about 2 h 28 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.
McLean, VA is on Eastern Time and Sugar Land, TX is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in McLean, it's 11 a.m. in Sugar Land, 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.
Sugar Land has a population of 110,077, vs 49,587 in McLean — about 2.2× larger by population. By land area, Sugar Land covers about 40 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 | Sugar Land | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $3,319/mo | $1,868/mo | 77.7% higher in McLean |
| Median home value | $1,257,900 | $387,900 | 224.3% higher in McLean |
| Median household income | $250,001 | $132,247 | 89.0% higher in McLean |
| Groceries index | 104.3 | 100.5 | 3.8% higher in McLean |
| Utilities index | 105.6 | 95.2 | 10.9% higher in McLean |
| Transportation index | 102.2 | 96.0 | 6.4% higher in McLean |
| Healthcare index | 101.6 | 95.5 | 6.4% 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 $79,765 in Sugar Land to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Sugar Land, TX is about 20.2% cheaper overall than McLean, VA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 49% higher in McLean than in Sugar Land. If you earn $80,000 in McLean, you'd need about $63,812 in Sugar Land to keep the same standard of living.