Climate
Chicago logs 92 frost days a year to Las Vegas's 16 — Las Vegas wins by 76. Chicago also leads on hot days by 124.
Chicago
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Las Vegas
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Cost of Living
Las Vegas is $369/mo cheaperChicago runs about $3,665/mo for a balanced lifestyle against Las Vegas's $3,296/mo — Las Vegas comes in $369 cheaper each month, roughly 11% less.
Chicago
$3,665monthly · balanced
Las Vegas
$3,296monthly · balanced
Mobility
On mobility, Chicago scores 3.4 vs Las Vegas's 2.4 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on cycling infrastructure. Las Vegas still holds an edge on airport accessibility.
Culture
Chicago's culture score of 4.4 sits well above Las Vegas's 2.5, with the biggest gap on history museums. Las Vegas still holds an edge on nightlife.
Nature & Outdoors
Chicago and Las Vegas score neck-and-neck on nature & outdoors (3.5 vs 3.7, 0–5 scale).
Safety
Chicago's safety score is ~1.4× Las Vegas's — in the middle of the scale, while Las Vegas lands below average, with the biggest gap on wildfire safety. Las Vegas still holds an edge on flooding safety.
Career
Chicago's career score of 4.7 sits well above Las Vegas's 2.6, with the biggest gap on career opportunities.
Social & Community
Chicago's social & community score of 4.0 sits well above Las Vegas's 3.7, with the biggest gap on local-first community. Las Vegas still holds an edge on urban energy.
Food & Dining
On food & dining, Chicago scores 4.6 vs Las Vegas's 3.8 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on restaurant variety.
Family
On family, Chicago scores 4.0 vs Las Vegas's 2.7 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on international schools.
Healthcare
On healthcare, Chicago scores 2.8 vs Las Vegas's 2.1 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on private healthcare quality.
Air Quality
Chicago averages 8.5 µg/m³ (good) PM2.5 annually versus Las Vegas's 6.5 µg/m³ (good) — Las Vegas breathes ~24% cleaner air (2.0 µg/m³ lower).
Chicago
Las Vegas
PM2.5 annual average
WHO classification
City Scale
Both maps at the same real-world scale — 1 cm on either map is the same distance.
Chicago (5.3M) and Las Vegas (2.4M) are 2.2x in population — Chicago is the larger metro, Las Vegas the smaller; on land area Chicago spans roughly 2.4x more ground.
Chicago is roughly 2.3x the scale of Las Vegas
Combined population & area comparison
ChicagoLas VegasCity Scale Rankings
Chicago5.3M2.2xLas Vegas2.4M1xChicago2,046 km²2.4xLas Vegas851 km²1xChicago
Las Vegas
Who Thrives Here
Chicago favours the career builder, while Las Vegas suits the sunshine lover. Both cities work well for the english speaker.
Also compared
Frequently asked about Chicago vs Las Vegas
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