City comparison
Scranton, PA is about 750 miles (1,200 km) from Springfield, IL in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 950 miles, or about 15 hours 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 Scranton, PA to Springfield, IL takes about 1 h 29 min, covering roughly 750 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.
Scranton, PA is on Eastern Time and Springfield, IL is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Scranton, it's 11 a.m. in Springfield, which puts Scranton 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.
Springfield has a population of 114,214, vs 76,119 in Scranton — about 1.5× larger by population. By land area, Springfield covers about 61 sq mi vs 25 sq mi for Scranton.
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 | Scranton | Springfield | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $933/mo | $913/mo | 2.2% higher in Scranton |
| Median home value | $125,700 | $147,700 | 17.5% higher in Springfield |
| Median household income | $48,776 | $62,419 | 28.0% higher in Springfield |
| Groceries index | 100.7 | 93.9 | 7.3% higher in Scranton |
| Utilities index | 105.9 | 90.5 | 17.0% higher in Scranton |
| Transportation index | 97.6 | 99.3 | 1.8% higher in Springfield |
| Healthcare index | 98.3 | 99.5 | 1.2% higher in Springfield |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Scranton, you'd need $99,675 in Springfield to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Scranton and Springfield have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 6% higher in Springfield than in Scranton. If you earn $80,000 in Scranton, you'd need about $79,740 in Springfield to keep the same standard of living.