Direct Flights from Chicago to Houston
Houston · Texas
Nonstop service from ORD and MDW to IAH and HOU on American, Frontier, Southwest, United. Here's the schedule at a glance — plus what to do once you land.
Which airports fly this route
Houston has 2 airports with nonstop service from Chicago, out of 2 Chicago airports. Fares differ by airport — each row opens that exact search on Kayak.
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- Find flights ↗ORDIAHChicago O'Hare International → George Bush Intercontinental
- Find flights ↗MDWHOUChicago Midway International → William P. Hobby
- Find flights ↗MDWIAHChicago Midway International → George Bush Intercontinental
How rare is this nonstop?
Houston is one of the best-connected places in the country: 124 cities fly there nonstop, Chicago among them.
How long to go to Houston for, from Chicago
2h 20m in the air, 926 miles — a Friday-evening departure still leaves you most of the evening in Houston. Two nights works.
With roughly 20 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 Houston
Houston is a sprawling port city in Southeastern Texas. An oil boom and continuing international immigration has brought explosive growth to the city, and it is now the fifth largest metropolitan area in the United States and the most diverse large city since 2021. While at first glance, the city appears to be a 9-5 central business district surrounded by a sea of suburbs and strip malls, there are many hidden gems to be discovered.
Summary from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA).
Top things to do in Houston
- The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas.
- The Rothko Chapel is a non-denominational chapel in Houston, Texas, founded by John and Dominique de Menil.
- The San Jacinto Monument is a 567.31-foot-high (172.92-meter) column located on the Houston Ship Channel in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, about 16 miles due east of downtown Houston.
- The Houston Zoo is a 55-acre (22 ha) zoological park located within Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The zoo opened in 1922 as a park attraction housing 40 animals.
- Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is a not-for-profit institution in the Museum District, Houston, Texas, founded in 1948, dedicated to presenting contemporary art to the public.
- The Houston Museum of Natural Science is a natural history museum located on the northern border of Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States.
- The Menil Collection, located in Houston, Texas, refers to the museum that houses the art collection of founders John de Menil and Dominique de Menil, or to the collection of paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, phot…
- The Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Houston, Texas, in the United States that serves the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
- Space Center Houston is a science museum that serves as the official visitor center of NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. It was designated a Smithsonian Affiliate museum in 2014.
- Hermann Park is a 445-acre (180-hectare) urban park in Houston, Texas, situated at the southern end of the Museum District.
- Six Flags AstroWorld, also known simply as AstroWorld, was a seasonally operated amusement park in Houston, Texas.
- The Holocaust Museum Houston is located in Houston's Museum District, in Texas. It is the fourth largest holocaust museum in the U.S. It was opened in 1996.
Attraction descriptions from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); place data from Wikidata (CC0).
Houston weather, compared with Chicago
21° warmer than Chicago on average across the year, on daytime highs:
- January
- Houston 64°F · Chicago 31°F · 32° warmer
- April
- Houston 80°F · Chicago 59°F · 21° warmer
- July
- Houston 94°F · Chicago 84°F · 10° warmer
- October
- Houston 82°F · Chicago 62°F · 20° warmer
August averages 95°F, hot enough to plan the middle of the day around. Houston is the steadier of the two, moving 31° between its coldest and warmest months where Chicago moves 53°.
Average daily highs, 1991–2020 station normals from Meteostat (CC BY 4.0), measured at each city's airport.
Planning a trip to Houston
- Best time to visit
- The best time to visit Houston is November–April, when daytime highs are a comfortable 64–80°F.
- How long to stay
- Houston rewards a longer visit — a full week lets you explore its many sights, from Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Rothko Chapel, and San Jacinto Monument and beyond.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a direct flight from Chicago to Houston?
- Yes — you can fly nonstop from Chicago (ORD, MDW) to Houston (IAH, HOU) on American, Frontier, Southwest, United.
- Which airlines fly nonstop from Chicago to Houston?
- American, Frontier, Southwest, United fly nonstop between Chicago (ORD, MDW) and Houston (IAH, HOU).
- Which Houston airport can I fly to nonstop from Chicago?
- Houston has 2 airports with nonstop service from Chicago: IAH (George Bush Intercontinental) on American, Frontier, United; HOU (William P. Hobby) on Southwest.
- Which Chicago airport has nonstop flights to Houston?
- You can leave from 2 Chicago airports: ORD (Chicago O'Hare International) on American, Frontier, United; MDW (Chicago Midway International) on Frontier, Southwest.
- How many nonstop flights are there from Chicago to Houston?
- There are about 20 nonstop departures per day (roughly 140 per week) from Chicago to Houston.
- How far is Houston from Chicago?
- Houston is about 926 miles from Chicago by air.
- What is there to do in Houston?
- Popular things to do include Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Rothko Chapel, San Jacinto Monument, Houston Zoo, and more.
More nonstop destinations from Chicago near Houston
Airports near Chicago
The closest other departure airports to Chicago — each opens up more nonstop destinations.