---
title: "New York to Los Angeles (JFK → LAX): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "New York to Los Angeles is 3,974 km (2,469 mi) great circle, an estimated 5h 26m in the air. The route, what it flies over, and why the short way is not the straight line on a map."
url: https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-lax
---

JFK → LAX

# New York to Los Angeles: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

John F. Kennedy to Los Angeles is 3,974 km of great circle — 2,469 mi — and an estimated 5h 26m in the air. Both ends are in North America.

**Great circle**
3,974 km
2,469 mi

**Estimated in the air**
5h 26m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
40.8°N
at 13% along

**One lap of Earth**
9.9%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 149th longest.

The New York to Los Angeles route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From New York the path crosses the United States.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 40.8°N, 13% of the way along.

Flying the line that looks straight on a Mercator map — one constant compass bearing — would cover 4,013 km. That is 39 km further, about 1% more, and roughly 3m of extra flying.

Leaving New York the aircraft points west (274°); it arrives into Los Angeles heading south-west (246°). That is 28° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.

One economy seat on it is about 563 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

[JFK–LAX carbon footprint →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-carbon-calculator?from=JFK&to=LAX) [Map this route →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-route-map?r=JFK-LAX)

From

JFK

## John F. Kennedy

New York, United States · North America

40.6°N, 73.8°W

[JFK airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/jfk) [Flights to New York →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/new-york)

To

LAX

## Los Angeles

Los Angeles, United States · North America

33.9°N, 118.4°W

[LAX airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/lax) [Flights to Los Angeles →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/los-angeles)

## New York to Los Angeles, asked and answered

**How far is New York to Los Angeles?**
New York to Los Angeles (JFK to LAX) is 3,974 km, or 2,469 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from New York to Los Angeles?**
About 5h 26m in the air. That is an estimate from the distance at a typical airliner block speed, plus half an hour for taxi, climb and descent; published schedules vary with winds and routing.

**What route does a New York to Los Angeles flight take?**
The great circle passes over the United States. It reaches 40.8°N at its furthest from the equator.

## Where these numbers come from

Distances are computed from the two airports’ own coordinates, not looked up from published routes. Times are estimates, not schedules.

[Why the shortest path is a curve →](https://orbitflights.app/blog/great-circle-routes-explained)

## Flown this one?

Orbit logs it in two taps and draws the arc on your own globe, along with every other flight you can remember. Free for your first 15.

[Download now](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qwertybit.orbit)

## Nearby routes

[JFK → SEA New York to Seattle 3,887 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-sea) [LAX → HNL Los Angeles to Honolulu 4,108 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-hnl) [JFK → SFO New York to San Francisco 4,152 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-sfo) [KEF → JFK Reykjavík to New York 4,163 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/kef-to-jfk) [DUB → JFK Dublin to New York 5,103 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/dub-to-jfk) [LAX → ORD Los Angeles to Chicago 2,802 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-ord)

## Further reading

[How many miles do you have to fly around the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/how-many-miles-to-fly-around-the-world) [What is on the exact opposite side of the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/opposite-side-of-the-world) [What's actually worth counting in a flight log](https://orbitflights.app/blog/what-is-worth-counting-in-a-flight-log)

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Markdown copy of https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-lax for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt