City comparison
Apple Valley, MN is about 1,500 miles (2,500 km) from Los Angeles, CA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,900 miles, or about 32 hours (about 3 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 Apple Valley, MN to Los Angeles, CA takes about 3 h 3 min, covering roughly 1,500 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, MN is on Central Time and Los Angeles, CA is on Pacific Time — a 2-hour difference. When it's noon in Apple Valley, it's 10 a.m. in Los Angeles, which puts Apple Valley 2 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.
Los Angeles has a population of 3,881,041, vs 55,594 in Apple Valley — about 69.8× larger by population. By land area, Los Angeles covers about 470 sq mi vs 17 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 | Los Angeles | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,607/mo | $1,791/mo | 11.4% higher in Los Angeles |
| Median home value | $333,300 | $822,600 | 146.8% higher in Los Angeles |
| Median household income | $97,588 | $76,244 | 28.0% higher in Apple Valley |
| Groceries index | 102.5 | 106.4 | 3.8% higher in Los Angeles |
| Utilities index | 93.3 | 151.7 | 62.6% higher in Los Angeles |
| Transportation index | 103.7 | 104.0 | ≈ equal (Los Angeles slightly higher) |
| Healthcare index | 103.9 | 104.3 | ≈ equal (Los Angeles 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 Apple Valley, you'd need $127,296 in Los Angeles to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Apple Valley, MN is about 21.4% cheaper overall than Los Angeles, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 48% higher in Los Angeles than in Apple Valley. If you earn $80,000 in Apple Valley, you'd need about $101,837 in Los Angeles to keep the same standard of living.