New York to Rome distance

New York to Rome in a straight line

In a straight line, the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, New York and Rome are 4,293 miles (6,909 km) apart, 17% of the way around the Earth at the equator. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”. There’s no road between them: the straight line crosses 3,166 mi of sea, 74% of the way.

From New York, Rome lies to the northeast (bearing 57°), and from Rome, New York lies to the northwest. The straight line reaches Rome on a bearing of 121°: the bearing keeps turning along the way (64° in all), which is why the shortest route looks curved on a flat map.

If the plane kept the same bearing all the way (89°, to the east), it would follow the rhumb line, the one that looks straight on a Mercator map: 4,503 miles (7,247 km), 210 mi more (4.9% longer). That’s why long routes don’t look “straight” on a map: the curve is the short way.

What the route flies over

Under the straight line there are 3,166 mi of sea (74%) and 1,128 mi of land. In order, from New York: 143 mi over the United States, 395 mi over Canada, 509 mi over France, and 80.8 mi over Italy.

The straight line climbs to 50.4° N (at 50.3880° N, 29.2898° W), 8.5° farther north than Rome: on a sphere that’s the short way, even if it looks like a detour on a flat map. Planes don’t follow the line exactly: they fly along airways, chase tailwinds and avoid closed airspace, but on long flights they stay close to it.

Halfway between New York and Rome

Halfway along the straight line, 2,147 miles (3,455 km) from each city, is the point 50.3752° N, 31.2325° W. It falls at sea; the nearest town is Santa Cruz das Flores (Azores, Portugal, pop. 1,725), 754 mi away.

Time difference and flight

A direct flight would take about 9 hr 10 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 6,909 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. Westbound flights usually take a little longer than eastbound ones because of high-altitude winds (the jet stream).

Rome is 6 hours ahead of New York all year (Central European Time versus Eastern Time): when it’s 12:00 in New York, it’s 18:00 in Rome.

With that flight time, if you leave New York at 10:00, you land in Rome around 1:10 the next day (Rome time).

The two cities

Rome is 1.2° farther north than New York and 86.5° farther east. New York has 8.6 million people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025) and Rome 2.3 million people (GeoNames).