City comparison
Austin, TX is about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from Bismarck, ND in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,400 miles, or about 24 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 Austin, TX to Bismarck, ND takes about 2 h 18 min, covering roughly 1,200 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.
Austin, TX is on Central Time and Bismarck, ND is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Austin, it's 11 a.m. in Bismarck, which puts Austin 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.
Austin has a population of 958,202, vs 73,694 in Bismarck — about 13.0× larger by population. By land area, Austin covers about 325 sq mi vs 35 sq mi for Bismarck.
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 | Austin | Bismarck | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,549/mo | $969/mo | 59.9% higher in Austin |
| Median home value | $461,500 | $283,800 | 62.6% higher in Austin |
| Median household income | $86,556 | $76,014 | 13.9% higher in Austin |
| Groceries index | 94.2 | 95.8 | 1.7% higher in Bismarck |
| Utilities index | 83.2 | 76.5 | 8.7% higher in Austin |
| Transportation index | 96.6 | 91.7 | 5.4% higher in Austin |
| Healthcare index | 96.1 | 91.9 | 4.6% higher in Austin |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Austin, you'd need $83,259 in Bismarck to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Bismarck, ND is about 16.7% cheaper overall than Austin, TX, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 45% higher in Austin than in Bismarck. If you earn $80,000 in Austin, you'd need about $66,607 in Bismarck to keep the same standard of living.