Los Angeles to Boston (LAX–BOS): distance and flight time

Flight time each way

LAX → BOS

5 h 20 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 63° (ENE).

Leave Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Boston Sat 7 Nov, 18:20 local.

BOS → LAX

6 h 20 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 273° (W).

Leave Boston Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 13:20 local.

LAX-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 distance	4,193 km · 2,605 mi · 2,264 nmi
Initial heading	63° (ENE) from LAX; 273° (W) from BOS
Farthest from the equator	42.5°N
Crosses	neither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip	21% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

LAX	America/Los_Angeles — UTC−7 now; UTC−8 standard time, UTC−7 during daylight saving time
BOS	America/New_York — UTC−4 now; UTC−5 standard time, UTC−4 during daylight saving time
Difference	Boston is 3 hours ahead of Los Angeles today.

Jet lag, flying LAX → BOS. Your body clock has to move 3 hours earlier, like an eastward 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 earlier (as here) is usually the harder direction; morning daylight at the destination helps. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

LAX Los Angeles International AirportLos Angeles, United States · longest runway 12,894 ft3,930 m

BOS Boston Logan International AirportBoston, United States · longest runway 10,083 ft3,073 m

More routes from LAX and BOS

LAXLAS Los Angeles – Las Vegas 380 km236 mi · 1 h 25 min LAXSEA Los Angeles – Seattle 1,537 km955 mi · 2 h 50 min EWRLAX Newark – Los Angeles 3,941 km2,449 mi · 6 h 05 min LAXAMS Los Angeles – Amsterdam 8,956 km5,565 mi · 10 h 45 min LAXTPE Los Angeles – Taipei 10,922 km6,787 mi · 14 h 40 min LAXSIN Los Angeles – Singapore 14,102 km8,762 mi · 18 h 25 min LGABOS New York – Boston 296 km184 mi · 1 h 20 min BOSDCA Boston – Washington 641 km398 mi · 1 h 50 min ATLBOS Atlanta – Boston 1,521 km945 mi · 2 h 40 min BOSKEF Boston – Reykjavík 3,875 km2,408 mi · 5 h 15 min BOSDUB Boston – Dublin 4,804 km2,985 mi · 6 h 05 min BOSCDG Boston – Paris 5,535 km3,439 mi · 6 h 50 min

Routes of a similar length

MIALIM Miami – Lima 4,219 km2,622 mi · 5 h 50 min JFKKEF New York – Reykjavík 4,163 km2,587 mi · 5 h 30 min SINDEL Singapore – Delhi 4,159 km2,584 mi · 5 h 55 min JFKSFO New York – San Francisco 4,152 km2,580 mi · 6 h 20 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).

LAX Los Angeles ⇄ BOS Boston