City comparison
Melbourne, FL is about 1,100 miles (1,700 km) from Waukegan, IL in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,300 miles, or about 22 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 Melbourne, FL to Waukegan, IL takes about 2 h 8 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.
Melbourne, FL is on Eastern Time and Waukegan, IL is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Melbourne, it's 11 a.m. in Waukegan, which puts Melbourne 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.
Waukegan has a population of 89,435, vs 84,982 in Melbourne — about the same size. By land area, Melbourne covers about 44 sq mi vs 24 sq mi for Waukegan.
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 | Melbourne | Waukegan | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,303/mo | $1,132/mo | 15.1% higher in Melbourne |
| Median home value | $247,300 | $164,400 | 50.4% higher in Melbourne |
| Median household income | $60,917 | $66,077 | 8.5% higher in Waukegan |
| Groceries index | 96.5 | 106.0 | 9.9% higher in Waukegan |
| Utilities index | 88.7 | 84.8 | 4.6% higher in Melbourne |
| Transportation index | 99.0 | 100.1 | 1.1% higher in Waukegan |
| Healthcare index | 98.5 | 100.3 | 1.9% higher in Waukegan |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Melbourne, you'd need $99,834 in Waukegan to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Melbourne and Waukegan have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 4% higher in Melbourne than in Waukegan. If you earn $80,000 in Melbourne, you'd need about $79,868 in Waukegan to keep the same standard of living.