VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
The Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo, Mexico City
Mexico CityThe Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Mexico City by Oscar Dominguez, Pexels License.

Chicago or Mexico City?

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

  • beaches
  • getting around
  • families

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

Choose Mexico City for

  • prices
  • day trips
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Mexico City’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, Mexico City 5: Chicago leads by 45 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Mexico City 90: Mexico City leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Mexico City 88: Mexico City leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Mexico City 80: Mexico City leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Mexico City 50: Mexico City leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Mexico City 75: Mexico City leads by 33 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Mexico City 58: Chicago leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Mexico City 50: Chicago leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Mexico City 76: Mexico City leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Mexico City 75: Mexico City leads by 42 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Mexico City 72: Chicago leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Mexico City 40: Mexico City leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chicago and Mexico City.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Chicago
62match

Wins on beaches and getting around with your weighting.

Mexico City
63match

Wins on prices and day trips 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

Mexico City in July

25 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
176 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoMexico City

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Mexico City: 1991-2020 normals, Mexico Central, D. F. (7.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoMexico City
Official language-Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC-6
Emergency number911911
Elevation179 m2,240 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsMexico City Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX)7 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days9 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoMexico City
City population2,746,3889,209,944
People per km²4,5296,202
Museums within 10 km44108
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km16
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chicago or Mexico City 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.