Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Negril by gustavo.kunst, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.
Chicago or Negril?
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
- culture and sights
- shopping
- live music and the arts
What lies behind each score is written up on Chicago’s own page.
Choose Negril for
- beaches
- wellness
- nature and the outdoors
What lies behind each score is written up on Negril’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chicago and Negril.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on culture and sights and shopping with your weighting.
Wins on beaches 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
Negril in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Negril's temperatures are measured 52 km from the centre, at Montego Bay / Sangster.
Negril has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Negril: 1991-2020 normals, Montego Bay / Sangster (51.8 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Chicago | Negril |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | - | English, Jamaican Patois |
| Currency | US Dollar (USD) | Jamaican Dollar (JMD) |
| Sockets | AB120 V, 60 Hz | AB116 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Left |
| Time zone | UTC-6, UTC-5 in summer | UTC-5 |
| Emergency number | 911 | Police 110/112/119/911, ambulance 110, fire 110 |
| Elevation | 179 m | 10 m |
| Main airport | Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinations | Sangster International Airport (MBJ)52 km from centre48 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 13 days | 10 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Chicago | Negril |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 2,746,388 | 4,500 |
| People per km² | 4,529 | - |
| Museums within 10 km | 44 | 0 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 1 month | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chicago or Negril somewhere new.