City comparison
Apple Valley, CA is about 300 miles (475 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 375 miles, or about 6 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 Apple Valley, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 36 min, covering roughly 300 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.
Apple Valley, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Apple Valley, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Apple Valley 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 75,603 in Apple Valley — about 21.3× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 77 sq mi for Apple Valley.
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 | Apple Valley | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,297/mo | $1,322/mo | 1.9% higher in Phoenix |
| Median home value | $345,400 | $340,200 | 1.5% higher in Apple Valley |
| Median household income | $62,898 | $72,092 | 14.6% higher in Phoenix |
| Groceries index | 101.7 | 95.8 | 6.1% higher in Apple Valley |
| Utilities index | 146.5 | 96.2 | 52.3% higher in Apple Valley |
| Transportation index | 101.6 | 104.1 | 2.5% higher in Phoenix |
| Healthcare index | 101.5 | 104.0 | 2.5% higher in Phoenix |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Apple Valley, you'd need $93,355 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 6.6% cheaper overall than Apple Valley, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 6% higher in Apple Valley than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Apple Valley, you'd need about $74,684 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.