VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
The Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta
JakartaThe Istiqlal Mosque

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Jakarta by Antonyus Bunjamin, Pexels License.

Chicago or Jakarta?

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
  • getting around
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Jakarta for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Jakarta’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, Jakarta 28: Chicago leads by 22 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Jakarta 78: Chicago leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Jakarta 48: Chicago leads by 30 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Jakarta 66: Chicago leads by 11 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Jakarta 30: Chicago leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Jakarta 45: Jakarta leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Jakarta 50: Chicago leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Jakarta 36: Chicago leads by 36 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Jakarta 64: Chicago leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Jakarta 80: Jakarta leads by 47 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Jakarta 42: Chicago leads by 40 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Jakarta 46: Jakarta leads by 13 points.
0255075100

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

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 getting around with your weighting.

Jakarta
51match

Wins on prices and wellness 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
No recordsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Jakarta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
85 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoJakarta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Jakarta: 1991-2020 normals, Jakarta / Observatory (1.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoJakarta
Official language-Indonesian
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Rupiah (IDR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number911112
Elevation179 m91 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsSoekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK)20 km from centre89 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoJakarta
City population2,746,38811,135,191
People per km²4,52916,821
Museums within 10 km4444
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 Jakarta 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.