United States
Chicago
Match
56
- Beach first55
- Culture first59
- Food & nightlife64
- Family trip53
- Nature first51
- Good weather55
- On a budget54
The nine measures
Each scored 0 to 100 against fixed anchors, so a score means the same thing on every page. Open a row for the figures behind it.
Beaches & swimming. Scores 53 out of 100.53
| Score | 53 |
|---|---|
| Swim season months | 1 |
| Beaches 10 km | 12 |
| Coast distance | 10,000 km |
| Water distance | 1 km |
Water reaches 21 °C or more in 1 month, 12 beaches lie within 10 km, and the water is 0.5 km away.
Places to eat. Scores 81 out of 100.81
| Score | 81 |
|---|---|
| Restaurants within 2 km of centre | 2,147 |
| Effective number of cuisines within 2 km | 37 |
2147 restaurants within 2 km of the centre, spread across an effective 37 kitchens.
Museums & heritage. Scores 46 out of 100.46
| Score | 46 |
|---|---|
| Museums within 10 km | 45 |
| Museums within 2 km of centre | 20 |
| Share of museums within 2 km % | 44 |
| Unesco sites within 50 km | 1 |
45 museums mapped within 10 km, 44% of them within 2 km of the centre, and 1 whole UNESCO inscription within 50 km.
Nightlife. Scores 62 out of 100.62
| Score | 62 |
|---|---|
| Drinking venues within 4 km | 1,123 |
| Drinking venues within 2 km of centre | 728 |
| Share of drinking venues within 2 km % | 65 |
| Nightclubs within 4 km | 51 |
1123 places to drink within 4 km, 51 nightclubs among them, and 65% of the drinking venues within 2 km of the centre.
Nature & day trips. Scores 38 out of 100.38
| Score | 38 |
|---|---|
| Protected land share 50 km % | 6 |
| Landscape blanket share 50 km % | 0 |
| Land share of disc % | 100 |
| Park area within 2 km | 118 hectares |
6% of the 50 km disc around the city is protected land, and there are 118 hectares of park within 2 km of the centre.
Good for families. Scores 55 out of 100.55
| Score | 55 |
|---|---|
| Tourist attractions within 2 km | 18 |
| Park area within 2 km | 118 hectares |
| Theme parks within 30 km | 2 |
18 tourist attractions within 2 km beside 118 hectares of park, and 2 theme parks within 30 km.
Sights concentration. Scores 70 out of 100.70
| Score | 70 |
|---|---|
| Notable places within 2 km | 217 |
| Min wikipedia languages | 5 |
217 notable places within 2 km of the centre, counting places with a Wikipedia presence in at least five languages.
Value for money. Scores 43 out of 100.43
| Score | 43 |
|---|---|
| Price level global | 100 |
| Daily budget | — |
National price level of 100 against the United States at 100, scored on a fixed scale from 20, the cheapest countries anyone travels to, to 160, the most expensive.
Year-round weather. Scores 57 out of 100.57
| Score | 57 |
|---|---|
| Monthly daytime high | 0.2 °C to 29.4 °C |
| Monthly rainfall | 54 mm to 121 mm |
| Dry months | 0 |
Daytime highs run 0-29 °C across the year, with 0 month(s) at 40 mm of rain or less.
When should you go?
The figures behind each month, shaded against this city's own year: the deepest cell is its best month for that measure and the palest its weakest.
Temperature and rainfall are thirty-year climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre).
Getting there
| Flying from | Chicago |
|---|---|
| New YorkJFK, EWR, LGA | 2 h 5 m €201-231 ORD · 25 km |
| MinneapolisMSP, STP | 1 h 20 m no fares ORD · 25 km |
| AtlantaATL, PDK | 1 h 50 m €141-200 ORD · 25 km |
| TorontoYYZ, YHM, YTZ | 1 h 30 m €189-423 ORD · 25 km |
| BostonBOS, PSM | 2 h 20 m €220-252 ORD · 25 km |
| Los AngelesLAX, BUR, SNA, VNY | 4 h 0 m €195-265 1 stop ORD · 25 km |
| ParisCDG, ORY, BVA | 8 h 30 m no fares ORD · 25 km |
| Mexico CityMEX, NLU, TLC | 3 h 50 m €253 ORD · 25 km |
| Abu DhabiAUH | 14 h 25 m no fares ORD · 25 km |
| TokyoHND, NRT | 12 h 35 m no fares ORD · 25 km |
The busiest departure cities for Chicago, with a place kept for each other part of the world. Busiest means arriving passengers where an official count exists, and where none does, the number of non-stop services flown: official route statistics are published by the European reporting countries and by nobody else, so a table ranked on them alone would offer a reader in New York or Tokyo ten European cities. Flying times are estimated from the distance between airports, and every row is a city flown non-stop. Where the typical offer connects anyway, the stops are shown. Under each figure is the airport the flight lands at and how far that is from the centre, because the nearest airport is not always the one a route is flown to. Typical return fares for 2026-08 to 2026-10, cached market data up to 7 days old. The figure is the middle half of the offers found, so a single price means they agreed and a range means they did not; for a typical route that middle half spans about a quarter of the median, and for the least settled routes rather more than the median itself.
Before you go
| Measure | Chicago |
|---|---|
| Currency | US Dollar (USD) |
| Sockets | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-6, UTC-5 in summer |
| Emergency number | 911 |
| Elevation | 179 m |
| Main airport | Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre272 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 13 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Chicago |
|---|---|
| City population | 2,746,388 |
| People per km² | 4,529 |
| Museums within 10 km | 43 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 |
| Distinct cuisines in the centre | 87 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 1 month |
Compare Chicago with
Every comparison with a written verdict behind it.