---
title: "New York to San Francisco (JFK → SFO): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "New York to San Francisco is 4,152 km (2,580 mi) great circle, an estimated 5h 40m 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-sfo
---

JFK → SFO

# New York to San Francisco: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

John F. Kennedy to San Francisco is 4,152 km of great circle — 2,580 mi — and an estimated 5h 40m in the air. Both ends are in North America.

**Great circle**
4,152 km
2,580 mi

**Estimated in the air**
5h 40m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
42.0°N
at 35% along

**One lap of Earth**
10.4%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 146th longest.

The New York to San Francisco 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, 35% of the way along.

Flying the line that looks straight on a Mercator map — one constant compass bearing — would cover 4,204 km. That is 52 km further, about 1% more, and roughly 4m of extra flying.

Leaving New York the aircraft points west (282°); it arrives into San Francisco heading west (250°). That is 32° 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 588 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

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

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

SFO

## San Francisco

San Francisco, United States · North America

37.6°N, 122.4°W

[SFO airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/sfo) [Flights to San Francisco →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/san-francisco)

## New York to San Francisco, asked and answered

**How far is New York to San Francisco?**
New York to San Francisco (JFK to SFO) is 4,152 km, or 2,580 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from New York to San Francisco?**
About 5h 40m 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 San Francisco 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

[KEF → JFK Reykjavík to New York 4,163 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/kef-to-jfk) [JFK → LAX New York to Los Angeles 3,974 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-lax) [JFK → SEA New York to Seattle 3,887 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-sea) [SFO → HNL San Francisco to Honolulu 3,857 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/sfo-to-hnl) [DUB → JFK Dublin to New York 5,103 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/dub-to-jfk) [LIS → JFK Lisbon to New York 5,404 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lis-to-jfk)

## 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-sfo for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt