Chicago to Dallas distance

Chicago to Dallas by road

The fastest driving route is 967 miles (1,556 km) long and takes about 17 hr 5 min without stops or traffic. It runs mostly on I-57 (380 mi), I-30 (314 mi), and I-55 (131 mi).

It goes through 4 states: Illinois (369 mi), Missouri (88.6 mi), Arkansas (331 mi), and Texas (178 mi). That’s an average of 57 mph (91 km/h). AAA recommends a break every two hours or 100 miles: with 8 stops of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 19 hr 45 min. At about 8 hours behind the wheel a day, it’s a 3-day drive. The time is OSRM’s estimate with OpenStreetMap data: no traffic and speeds somewhat below the limits, so real trips can differ.

Straight-line distance and bearing

In a straight line, the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, Chicago and Dallas are 802 miles (1,291 km) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 20% longer: for every 100 miles in a straight line you drive 120. That’s a normal detour between two cities. Of the 110 US driving pairs in this series, it ranks 18th for detour (the average is 16%).

From Chicago, Dallas lies to the southwest (bearing 222°), and from Dallas, Chicago lies to the northeast. The straight line reaches Dallas on a bearing of 216°: on a sphere the bearing keeps changing along the way, which is why the shortest route looks slightly curved on a flat map.

Halfway between Chicago and Dallas

Halfway along the straight line, 401 miles (646 km) from each city, is the point 37.4067° N, 92.5045° W. It falls near Grovespring (Missouri, pop. 25), 5.7 mi away.

By road, the halfway point is 483 miles (778 km) from each city, near Keiser (Arkansas, pop. 693), 1.8 mi away. The two midpoints are 181 mi apart: if you want to meet halfway, the one on the road is the useful one.

Time zone and flight

Chicago and Dallas share the same time all year: both are on Central Time.

A direct flight would take about 2 hr 5 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 1,291 km straight line at 800 km/h (about 497 mph), a typical airliner cruising speed. Real schedules depend on wind, routing and airports, and not every pair has a direct flight.

The two cities

Chicago sits at 588 ft (179 m) and Dallas at 428 ft (130 m), 160 ft (49 m) lower.

Chicago has 2.7 million people and Dallas 1.3 million people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025).