--- title: "New York to Chicago (JFK → ORD): distance and flight time · Orbit" description: "New York to Chicago is 1,188 km (738 mi) great circle, an estimated 1h 59m 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-ord --- JFK → ORD # New York to Chicago: distance, flight time and the route it really takes John F. Kennedy to Chicago O'Hare is 1,188 km of great circle — 738 mi — and an estimated 1h 59m in the air. Both ends are in North America. **Great circle** 1,188 km 738 mi **Estimated in the air** 1h 59m block time **Furthest from equator** 42.0°N at 100% along **One lap of Earth** 3.0% of 40,075 km Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 241st longest. The New York to Chicago 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 42.0°N, 100% of the way along. Holding a single compass bearing the whole way would cover almost exactly the same ground, so on this route the flat map and the globe agree. Leaving New York the aircraft points west (282°); it arrives into Chicago heading west (272°). That is 9° 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 176 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming. [JFK–ORD carbon footprint →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-carbon-calculator?from=JFK&to=ORD) [Map this route →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-route-map?r=JFK-ORD) 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 ORD ## Chicago O'Hare Chicago, United States · North America 42.0°N, 87.9°W [ORD airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/ord) ## New York to Chicago, asked and answered **How far is New York to Chicago?** New York to Chicago (JFK to ORD) is 1,188 km, or 738 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports. **How long is the flight from New York to Chicago?** About 1h 59m 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 Chicago flight take?** The great circle passes over the United States. It reaches 42.0°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 [ORD → DEN Chicago to Denver 1,426 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/ord-to-den) [JFK → MIA New York to Miami 1,757 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-mia) [JFK → YYZ New York to Toronto 588 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-yyz) [JFK → CUN New York to Cancún 2,506 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-cun) [JFK → SJU New York to San Juan 2,578 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-sju) [JFK → DEN New York to Denver 2,610 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-den) ## 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) --- Markdown copy of https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-ord for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt