NONSTOP

Direct Flights from Chicago to Detroit

Detroit · Michigan

Nonstop service from ORD and MDW to DTW on American, Delta, Southwest, United. Here's the schedule at a glance — plus what to do once you land.

Airlines
American, Delta, Southwest, United
Nonstop flights
~23/dayacross 2 airport pairs
Distance
234 mi
Flight time
~1hgate to gate
Elevation
645 ftabout the same as home
Days operated
Daily (all week)
Great-circle flight path from Chicago (ORD) to Detroit (DTW), 234 miles nonstop.ORDDTW

Which airports fly this route

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  • ORDDTWChicago O'Hare International
    American, Delta, United~17/dayDaily (all week)234 mi
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  • MDWDTWChicago Midway International
    Delta, Southwest~6/dayDaily (all week)228 mi
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How rare is this nonstop?

99 cities have a nonstop to Detroit, Chicago among them.

How long to go to Detroit for, from Chicago

1h in the air, 234 miles: short enough that a single night in Detroit is worth it, and a day trip is not absurd.

With roughly 23 departures a day, you are not tied to one flight: if a meeting overruns or the weather turns, there is another one behind it.

About Detroit

Detroit skyline and the Detroit International Riverfront — as seen from Windsor, Ontario.
Photo by Shawn Wilson · CC BY-SA 1.0

Detroit is a major metropolis in the US state of Michigan that has had a profound impact on the world. From the advent of the automotive assembly line to the Motown sound, modern techno and rock music, Detroit continues to shape both American and global culture. The city has seen many of its historic buildings renovated, and is bustling with new developments and attractions that complement its world-class museums and theatres. After a long economic slump and decrease in population, Detroit has developed a reputation for crime and urban decline, but revitalization means that it is an exciting destination filled with technological advance and historic charm.

Summary from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA).

Top things to do in Detroit

  1. The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is an art museum in midtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. It has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the U.S.
  2. Point Pelee National Park is a national park in Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada where it extends into Lake Erie. The word pelée is French for 'bald'.
  3. The Automotive Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum honoring influential figures in the history of the automotive industry. Located in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, US.
  4. The Henry Ford is a history museum complex in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, within Metro Detroit. The museum collection contains the presidential limousine of John F.
  5. Belle Isle Park, known simply as Belle Isle, is a 982-acre island park in Detroit, Michigan, developed in the late 19th century.
  6. The Detroit Zoo is a zoo located in the cities of Huntington Woods and Royal Oak in the U.S. state of Michigan. Spanning 125 acres (50.6 ha), it is home to more than 2,000 animals and more than 200 different species.
  7. The Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan, near Detroit, is Michigan's largest Holocaust museum.
  8. The Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament is a Neo-Gothic style Roman Catholic cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit.
  9. The Windsor Sculpture Park, formerly known as the Odette Sculpture Park, is an open space in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, that shows 35 large-scale contemporary sculptures by artists including Elisabeth Frink, Gerald Gladst…
  10. The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is one of the largest university art museums in the United States, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with 94,000 sq ft (8,700 m2).
  11. The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology is a museum of archaeology located on the University of Michigan central campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the United States.
  12. The Detroit International Riverfront is a tourist attraction and landmark of Detroit, Michigan, extending from the Ambassador Bridge in the west to Belle Isle in the east, for a total of 5.5 miles along the Detroit River…

Attraction descriptions from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); place data from Wikidata (CC0).

Detroit weather, compared with Chicago

Within 1° of Chicago on the annual average, so pack much as you would at home — but the two cities do not track each other month to month:

January
Detroit 33°F · Chicago 31°F · much the same
April
Detroit 59°F · Chicago 59°F · much the same
July
Detroit 84°F · Chicago 84°F · much the same
October
Detroit 62°F · Chicago 62°F · much the same

January bottoms out near 33°F — a real coat, not a layer.

Average daily highs, 1991–2020 station normals from Meteostat (CC BY 4.0), measured at the nearest weather station to each city.

Planning a trip to Detroit

Best time to visit
The best time to visit Detroit is May–June and August–October, when daytime highs are a comfortable 62–82°F.
How long to stay
Detroit rewards a longer visit — a full week lets you explore its many sights, from Detroit Institute of Arts, Point Pelee National Park, and Automotive Hall of Fame and beyond.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a direct flight from Chicago to Detroit?
Yes — you can fly nonstop from Chicago (ORD, MDW) to Detroit (DTW) on American, Delta, Southwest, United.
Which airlines fly nonstop from Chicago to Detroit?
American, Delta, Southwest, United fly nonstop between Chicago (ORD, MDW) and Detroit (DTW).
Which Chicago airport has nonstop flights to Detroit?
You can leave from 2 Chicago airports: ORD (Chicago O'Hare International) on American, Delta, United; MDW (Chicago Midway International) on Delta, Southwest.
How many nonstop flights are there from Chicago to Detroit?
There are about 23 nonstop departures per day (roughly 161 per week) from Chicago to Detroit.
How far is Detroit from Chicago?
Detroit is about 234 miles from Chicago by air.
What is there to do in Detroit?
Popular things to do include Detroit Institute of Arts, Point Pelee National Park, Automotive Hall of Fame, The Henry Ford, and more.

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