JetSetAuthority

Route · United States and Canada

JFK New York ⇄ SFO San Francisco

John F. Kennedy International Airport (United States) and San Francisco International Airport (United States): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance4,152 km2,580 mi2,242 nautical miles
JFK → SFO6 h 20 minestimated block time
SFO → JFK5 h 20 minestimated block time
Clock change−3 hSan Francisco vs New York, today
Great-circle route from New York (JFK) to San Francisco (SFO)JFKNew YorkSFOSan Francisco
The shortest path over the Earth’s surface (great circle), drawn on a Natural Earth projection. Real flight paths bend around weather, winds and closed airspace.

Flight time each way

JFK → SFO

6 h 20 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 282° (WNW).

Leave New York Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 13:20 local.

SFO → JFK

5 h 20 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 70° (ENE).

Leave San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive New York Sat 7 Nov, 18:20 local.

SFO-bound flights are the slower direction by about 60 minutes in our estimate: the route runs mostly east–west through latitudes where the prevailing westerly winds at cruise height are strong, so heading east rides a tailwind and heading west fights a headwind. How we estimate it.

Distance

Great-circle distance4,152 km · 2,580 mi · 2,242 nmi
Initial heading282° (WNW) from JFK; 70° (ENE) from SFO
Farthest from the equator42.0°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip21% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

JFKAmerica/New_York — UTC−4 now; UTC−5 standard time, UTC−4 during daylight saving time
SFOAmerica/Los_Angeles — UTC−7 now; UTC−8 standard time, UTC−7 during daylight saving time
DifferenceSan Francisco is 3 hours behind New York today.

Jet lag, flying JFK → SFO. Your body clock has to move 3 hours later, like a westward trip. A common rule of thumb is that the body clock adjusts by roughly one time zone a day, so expect up to about 3 days to fully adjust. Shifting later (as here) is usually the easier direction; evening daylight at the destination helps. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

JFK John F. Kennedy International AirportNew York, United States · longest runway 14,511 ft4,423 m SFO San Francisco International AirportSan Francisco, United States · longest runway 11,870 ft3,618 m

Same cities, other airports

EWRSFO Newark – San Francisco 4,118 km2,559 mi · 6 h 15 min

More routes from JFK and SFO

JFKBOS New York – Boston 300 km186 mi · 1 h 20 min JFKDEN New York – Denver 2,610 km1,622 mi · 4 h 20 min JFKMAD New York – Madrid 5,760 km3,579 mi · 7 h JFKFCO New York – Rome 6,866 km4,267 mi · 8 h 10 min JFKNRT New York – Tokyo 10,830 km6,729 mi · 13 h 50 min SINJFK Singapore – New York 15,341 km9,532 mi · 18 h 30 min LAXSFO Los Angeles – San Francisco 543 km338 mi · 1 h 45 min SFOORD San Francisco – Chicago 2,964 km1,842 mi · 4 h 05 min SFOBOS San Francisco – Boston 4,341 km2,697 mi · 5 h 30 min SFOAMS San Francisco – Amsterdam 8,785 km5,459 mi · 10 h 35 min SFOPVG San Francisco – Shanghai 9,877 km6,138 mi · 13 h 20 min SFOSIN San Francisco – Singapore 13,582 km8,439 mi · 17 h 45 min

Routes of a similar length

SINDEL Singapore – Delhi 4,159 km2,584 mi · 5 h 55 min LAXBOS Los Angeles – Boston 4,193 km2,605 mi · 5 h 20 min LAXHNL Los Angeles – Honolulu 4,108 km2,553 mi · 6 h 05 min AKLPPT Auckland – Papeete (Tahiti) 4,094 km2,544 mi · 5 h 25 min

Need a different pair? The flight-time calculator works for any two of 3,245 airports. Not covered: which airlines fly this route, schedules, fares and live status — that data is proprietary and we don’t guess it.

Photos on airport pages are credited there. Estimates are rounded to 5 minutes; typical error about 13 minutes (validation).