City comparison
Alhambra, CA is about 350 miles (550 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 425 miles, or about 7 h 15 min behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from Alhambra, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 42 min, covering roughly 350 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
Alhambra, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Alhambra, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Alhambra 1 hours behind.
Standard-time offsets. Daylight saving applies in both cities for most of the year (exceptions: Hawaii and most of Arizona), and the gap between the two stays the same.
Phoenix has a population of 1,609,456, vs 82,295 in Alhambra — about 19.6× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 7.6 sq mi for Alhambra.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Alhambra | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,788/mo | $1,322/mo | 35.2% higher in Alhambra |
| Median home value | $766,000 | $340,200 | 125.2% higher in Alhambra |
| Median household income | $80,234 | $72,092 | 11.3% higher in Alhambra |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 95.8 | 11.0% higher in Alhambra |
| Utilities index | 155.6 | 96.2 | 61.7% higher in Alhambra |
| Transportation index | 104.4 | 104.1 | ≈ equal (Alhambra slightly higher) |
| Healthcare index | 104.3 | 104.0 | ≈ equal (Alhambra slightly higher) |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Alhambra, you'd need $79,777 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 20.2% cheaper overall than Alhambra, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 40% higher in Alhambra than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Alhambra, you'd need about $63,821 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.