Distance Between Two Cities
Type two cities: the distance between them in a straight line, the direction you set off in, the time difference, how long a non-stop flight takes and the town halfway.
New York City, NY to Los Angeles, CA
2,445 mi as the crow flies3,935 km. From New York City you set off heading west (274°).
- Non-stop flight
- about 5 h 48 min
- Time difference now
- Los Angeles is 3 h behind
- Halfway
- near Lincoln, NE
Flight: an estimate from US DOT schedules, which put 9 in 10 US routes within 15 minutes of it (5 h 33 min–6 h 3 min). Time: right now, by each city’s own clock rules; it can change by an hour when one of them changes to or from daylight saving time.
Where to meet in the middle: the Halfway Point Calculator Flight times between airports, with your arrival time
Places and time zones: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Flight times: fitted on US DOT scheduled flights.
Quick answer: New York City to Los Angeles is 2,445 miles (3,935 km) as the crow flies, heading west, about 5 h 48 min by non-stop flight, and Los Angeles is 3 hours behind. Type any two cities for the straight-line distance, the direction, the time difference, the flight time and the town halfway.
How to use it
Type the first city and pick it from the list, then the second. The answer is the distance in a straight line, in miles and kilometres (miles / km switches which comes first), with the compass direction you set off in. Below it: how long a non-stop flight takes, the time difference right now, and the town halfway between you. Swap the two turns the trip round; Copy link keeps both cities.
How the distance is worked out
“As the crow flies” means the shortest path over the surface of the Earth: the great circle between the two points, worked out with the haversine formula on a sphere of 6,371 km, the Earth’s mean radius. On a flat map that path looks curved: New York City to Tokyo passes close to the Arctic. A road is always longer than the straight line, and how much longer depends on the land in between. The direction is the bearing you start on; on a long great circle it changes as you go.
The flight time is an estimate for a scheduled non-stop, fitted on US Department of Transportation schedules for every US route with regular flights (the same fit as the Flight Time Calculator): about 49 minutes for taxiing, climbing and landing, plus a time per mile, a little shorter flying east with the jet stream. It is not given under 100 miles, where most people drive. The time difference uses each city’s own clock rules through your browser, so it is right for today and can change by an hour when one city changes to or from daylight saving time.
Distances between popular cities
| Cities | Miles | Km | Heading |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York City to Los Angeles | 2,445 mi | 3,935 km | west |
| New York City to Chicago | 712 mi | 1,146 km | west |
| New York City to Miami | 1,092 mi | 1,757 km | south |
| New York City to Washington | 204 mi | 328 km | southwest |
| Los Angeles to San Francisco | 347 mi | 559 km | northwest |
| Seattle to Portland | 145 mi | 234 km | south |
| Dallas to Houston | 226 mi | 363 km | southeast |
| Chicago to Detroit | 238 mi | 383 km | east |
| New York City to London | 3,461 mi | 5,570 km | northeast |
| Los Angeles to Tokyo | 5,478 mi | 8,816 km | northwest |
| London to Paris | 214 mi | 344 km | southeast |
| Sydney to Melbourne | 443 mi | 713 km | southwest |
Worked examples
New York City to London. 3,461 miles (5,570 km), setting off northeast. The flight estimate is about 7 h 13 min eastbound, from a fit made on US routes, so take it as a guide; London is 5 hours ahead of New York City for most of the year.
London to Paris. 214 miles (344 km) southeast, about 1 h 13 min by air, and Paris is 1 hour ahead. By train, through the Channel Tunnel, the route is longer than the straight line.
Chicago to Miami. Miami is 1 hour ahead of Chicago: Eastern time against Central, the same all year because both change their clocks on the same days.
Common mistakes
- Reading the straight line as the drive. Roads follow the land; the drive is longer.
- Measuring on a flat map. A ruler on a world map gives the wrong distance and the wrong path for long trips.
- Taking the time difference as fixed. Countries change their clocks on different dates, so for a few weeks a year the gap is an hour more or less.
- Expecting the flight to match the straight line. Planes fly the great circle only roughly, around weather and airspace, which the flight estimate already allows for.
Going by train, bus or car
For the ground trips, see Portland to Seattle by train, New York to DC by train, Detroit to Toronto by train, Philadelphia to Chicago by bus and the New York to Florida road trip. Meeting a friend halfway? The Halfway Point Calculator finds the town. Driving it? The Road Trip Cost Calculator prices the gas.
FAQ
How do I find the distance between two cities?
Type both cities above and pick each from the list: the straight-line distance appears at once, in miles and kilometres, with the direction, the time difference and the flight time.
What does “as the crow flies” mean?
The shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, in a straight line with no roads: the great-circle distance. It is always shorter than the drive.
How far is New York City from Los Angeles?
2,445 miles (3,935 km) as the crow flies. A non-stop flight takes about 5 h 48 min, and Los Angeles is 3 hours behind New York City.
How is the distance between two locations calculated?
With the haversine formula: the latitude and longitude of both places on a sphere of the Earth’s mean radius, 6,371 km. It is accurate to within about half a percent of the true distance on the slightly flattened Earth.
Why is the drive longer than the distance between the cities?
Roads go around mountains, water and private land, and through towns. The straight line does not, so it is the shortest possible distance.
How long is the flight between two cities?
For a non-stop, the tool estimates it from US flight schedules: about 49 minutes plus a time per mile, shorter flying east. For 100 miles or more it shows the estimate; the Flight Time Calculator gives it airport to airport, with your arrival time.