VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
Palms on Waikiki Beach, Honolulu
HonoluluPalms on Waikiki Beach

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Honolulu by Jess Loiterton, Pexels License.

Chicago or Honolulu?

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 Chicago for

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Honolulu for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Honolulu’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. Chicago 50, Honolulu 91: Honolulu leads by 41 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Honolulu 70: Chicago leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Honolulu 55: Chicago leads by 23 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Honolulu 45: Chicago leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Honolulu 88: Honolulu leads by 40 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Honolulu 38: Chicago leads by 4 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Honolulu 80: Honolulu leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Honolulu 52: Chicago leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Honolulu 60: Chicago leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Honolulu 15: Chicago leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Honolulu 40: Chicago leads by 42 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Honolulu 50: Honolulu leads by 17 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chicago and Honolulu.

Your match

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

Chicago
Best match
62match

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

Honolulu
57match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Chicago in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
102 mmrain in the month
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Honolulu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
26 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoHonolulu

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Honolulu: 1991-2020 normals, Honolulu International Airport (10.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoHonolulu
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC-10
Emergency number911911
Elevation179 m12 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsDaniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)7 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoHonolulu
City population2,746,388350,964
People per km²4,5291,981
Museums within 10 km4412
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chicago or Honolulu 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. 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.