VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License.

Chicago or Manila?

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

  • getting around
  • beaches
  • families

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

Choose Manila for

  • prices
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Manila’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, Manila 12: Chicago leads by 38 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Manila 64: Chicago leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Manila 54: Chicago leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Manila 64: Chicago leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Manila 40: Chicago leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Chicago and Manila are level on 42.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Manila 42: Chicago leads by 36 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Manila 26: Chicago leads by 46 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Manila 60: Chicago leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Manila 77: Manila leads by 44 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Manila 50: Chicago leads by 32 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Manila 40: Manila leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chicago and Manila.

Your match

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

Chicago
Best match
62match

Wins on getting around and beaches with your weighting.

Manila
48match

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
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Manila in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
487 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoManila

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoManila
Official language-English, Filipino, Taglish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Philippine Peso (PHP)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number911911
Elevation179 m9 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days18 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoManila
City population2,746,3881,902,590
People per km²4,52976,104
Museums within 10 km4427
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Manila 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.