City comparison
Ames, IA is about 950 miles (1,500 km) from Pocatello, ID in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,200 miles, or about 20 hours (about 2 days at 10 h/day) 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 Ames, IA to Pocatello, ID takes about 1 h 55 min, covering roughly 950 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.
Ames, IA is on Central Time and Pocatello, ID is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Ames, it's 11 a.m. in Pocatello, which puts Ames 1 hours ahead.
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.
Ames has a population of 66,265, vs 56,582 in Pocatello — about 1.2× larger by population. By land area, Pocatello covers about 34 sq mi vs 28 sq mi for Ames.
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 | Ames | Pocatello | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,011/mo | $790/mo | 28.0% higher in Ames |
| Median home value | $247,500 | $206,200 | 20.0% higher in Ames |
| Median household income | $57,428 | $56,115 | 2.3% higher in Ames |
| Groceries index | 94.0 | 96.9 | 3.1% higher in Pocatello |
| Utilities index | 83.8 | 74.8 | 12.1% higher in Ames |
| Transportation index | 93.3 | 99.5 | 6.6% higher in Pocatello |
| Healthcare index | 93.5 | 99.4 | 6.4% higher in Pocatello |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Ames, you'd need $99,891 in Pocatello to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Ames and Pocatello have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 6% higher in Ames than in Pocatello. If you earn $80,000 in Ames, you'd need about $79,913 in Pocatello to keep the same standard of living.