---
title: "Los Angeles to Chicago (LAX → ORD): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "Los Angeles to Chicago is 2,802 km (1,741 mi) great circle, an estimated 3h 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/lax-to-ord
---

LAX → ORD

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

Los Angeles to Chicago O'Hare is 2,802 km of great circle — 1,741 mi — and an estimated 3h 59m in the air. Both ends are in North America.

**Great circle**
2,802 km
1,741 mi

**Estimated in the air**
3h 59m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
42.0°N
at 100% along

**One lap of Earth**
7.0%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 171st longest.

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

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles the aircraft points north-east (62°); it arrives into Chicago heading east (81°). That is 19° 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 415 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

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

From

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)

To

ORD

## Chicago O'Hare

Chicago, United States · North America

42.0°N, 87.9°W

[ORD airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/ord)

## Los Angeles to Chicago, asked and answered

**How far is Los Angeles to Chicago?**
Los Angeles to Chicago (LAX to ORD) is 2,802 km, or 1,741 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from Los Angeles to Chicago?**
About 3h 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 Los Angeles 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

[LAX → MEX Los Angeles to Mexico City 2,500 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-mex) [JFK → LAX New York to Los Angeles 3,974 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-lax) [LAX → SEA Los Angeles to Seattle 1,537 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-sea) [LAX → HNL Los Angeles to Honolulu 4,108 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-hnl) [ORD → DEN Chicago to Denver 1,426 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/ord-to-den) [LAX → DEN Los Angeles to Denver 1,385 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-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)

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