VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License.

Chiang Mai or Chicago?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Chiang Mai for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Chiang Mai’s own page.

Choose Chicago for

  • live music and the arts
  • beaches
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Chicago’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Chiang Mai 6, Chicago 50: Chicago leads by 44 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Chicago 80: Chicago leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Chicago 78: Chicago leads by 13 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Chicago 77: Chicago leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Chicago 48: Chiang Mai leads by 25 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Chicago 42: Chiang Mai leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Chicago 78: Chicago leads by 23 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Chicago 72: Chicago leads by 34 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Chicago 70: Chicago leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Chicago 33: Chiang Mai leads by 57 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Chicago 82: Chicago leads by 52 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Chicago 33: Chiang Mai leads by 49 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Chicago.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Chiang Mai
56match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Chicago
Best match
62match

Wins on live music and the arts and beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Chiang Mai in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Chicago in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
102 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiChicago

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiChicago
Official languageThai-
CurrencyBaht (THB)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-6, UTC-5 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199911
Elevation310 m179 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiChicago
City population1,198,0002,746,388
People per km²2,9584,529
Museums within 10 km644
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C-1 month

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chiang Mai or Chicago somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.