✈ SFO → ORD
SAN FRANCISCO → CHICAGO IN 4H 17M. PACK SNACKS. PACK PATIENCE.
Flight from San Francisco to Chicago
From SFO (SFO), USA North America → O'Hare (ORD), USA North America
How long is the flight from San Francisco to Chicago?
A nonstop flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Chicago (ORD) takes about 4 hours 17 minutes, covering a great-circle distance of 1,842 miles (2,964 km). Actual scheduled time varies by airline, routing, and wind — expect ±15 to 30 minutes from this estimate.
Avg flight time
4h 17m
Nonstop, scheduled
Distance
1,842 mi
2,964 km · great-circle
Avg speed
693 km/h
Door-to-door including taxi
Time zones & jet lag
San Francisco timezone
UTC-7
America/Los_Angeles
Chicago timezone
UTC-5
America/Chicago
Time difference
+2h
2 hours ahead
Jet lag (rough)
~2d
Eastward — worse
CO₂ footprint per passenger
Economy class, single passenger. Source: DEFRA 2024 averages.
This flight emits roughly 3× the CO₂ of an equivalent train trip and 0.7× a car driven alone over the same distance.