City comparison
McLean, VA is about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from The Woodlands, TX 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 McLean, VA to The Woodlands, TX takes about 2 h 24 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 The Woodlands, TX is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in McLean, it's 11 a.m. in The Woodlands, 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.
The Woodlands has a population of 118,402, vs 49,587 in McLean — about 2.4× larger by population. By land area, The Woodlands covers about 43 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 | The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $3,319/mo | $1,723/mo | 92.6% higher in McLean |
| Median home value | $1,257,900 | $456,400 | 175.6% higher in McLean |
| Median household income | $250,001 | $142,384 | 75.6% 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 $79,428 in The Woodlands to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
The Woodlands, TX is about 20.6% cheaper overall than McLean, VA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 50% higher in McLean than in The Woodlands. If you earn $80,000 in McLean, you'd need about $63,543 in The Woodlands to keep the same standard of living.