JetSetAuthority

Route · United States and Canada

SFO San Francisco ⇄ ORD Chicago

San Francisco International Airport (United States) and Chicago O'Hare International Airport (United States): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance2,964 km1,842 mi1,600 nautical miles
SFO → ORD4 h 05 minestimated block time
ORD → SFO4 h 50 minestimated block time
Clock change+2 hChicago vs San Francisco, today
Great-circle route from San Francisco (SFO) to Chicago (ORD)SFOSan FranciscoORDChicago
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

SFO → ORD

4 h 05 min

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

Leave San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 16:05 local.

ORD → SFO

4 h 50 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 272° (W).

Leave Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 12:50 local.

SFO-bound flights are the slower direction by about 45 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 distance2,964 km · 1,842 mi · 1,600 nmi
Initial heading70° (ENE) from SFO; 272° (W) from ORD
Farthest from the equator42.0°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip15% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

SFOAmerica/Los_Angeles — UTC−7 now; UTC−8 standard time, UTC−7 during daylight saving time
ORDAmerica/Chicago — UTC−5 now; UTC−6 standard time, UTC−5 during daylight saving time
DifferenceChicago is 2 hours ahead of San Francisco today.

Jet lag, flying SFO → ORD. Your body clock has to move 2 hours earlier, like an eastward trip. A shift this small rarely causes much jet lag; most people feel normal within a day or so. 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 ORD Chicago O'Hare International AirportChicago, United States · longest runway 13,000 ft3,962 m

More routes from SFO and ORD

LAXSFO Los Angeles – San Francisco 543 km338 mi · 1 h 45 min SFOOGG San Francisco – Maui (Kahului) 3,761 km2,337 mi · 5 h 40 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 ORDMSP Chicago – Minneapolis 537 km334 mi · 1 h 45 min JFKORD New York – Chicago 1,188 km738 mi · 2 h 35 min IAHORD Houston – Chicago 1,491 km926 mi · 2 h 40 min ORDLAS Chicago – Las Vegas 2,432 km1,511 mi · 4 h 10 min ORDLHR Chicago – London 6,344 km3,942 mi · 7 h 45 min ORDICN Chicago – Seoul 10,519 km6,536 mi · 13 h 30 min

Routes of a similar length

HKGNRT Hong Kong – Tokyo 2,962 km1,841 mi · 4 h 10 min YULCUN Montreal – Cancún 2,969 km1,845 mi · 4 h 35 min YYZPUJ Toronto – Punta Cana 2,984 km1,854 mi · 4 h 20 min LGWTFS London – Tenerife 2,913 km1,810 mi · 4 h 30 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).