San Francisco to Boston (SFO–BOS): distance and flight time

Flight time each way

SFO → BOS

5 h 30 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 66° (ENE).

Leave San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Boston Sat 7 Nov, 18:30 local.

BOS → SFO

6 h 35 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 281° (W).

Leave Boston Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 13:35 local.

SFO-bound flights are the slower direction by about 65 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	4,341 km · 2,697 mi · 2,344 nmi
Initial heading	66° (ENE) from SFO; 281° (W) from BOS
Farthest from the equator	43.5°N
Crosses	neither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip	22% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

SFO	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 San Francisco today.

Jet lag, flying SFO → 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

SFO San Francisco International AirportSan Francisco, United States · longest runway 11,870 ft3,618 m

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

More routes from SFO and BOS

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 JFKSFO New York – San Francisco 4,152 km2,580 mi · 6 h 20 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 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

YVRHNL Vancouver – Honolulu 4,354 km2,705 mi · 6 h 20 min SEAHNL Seattle – Honolulu 4,308 km2,677 mi · 6 h 20 min MELDPS Melbourne – Bali (Denpasar) 4,381 km2,722 mi · 6 h 15 min MIALIM Miami – Lima 4,219 km2,622 mi · 5 h 50 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).

SFO San Francisco ⇄ BOS Boston