City comparison
Bakersfield, CA is about 425 miles (650 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 500 miles, or about 8 h 45 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 Bakersfield, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 50 min, covering roughly 425 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.
Bakersfield, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Bakersfield, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Bakersfield 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 404,321 in Bakersfield — about 4.0× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 150 sq mi for Bakersfield.
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 | Bakersfield | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,283/mo | $1,322/mo | 3.0% higher in Phoenix |
| Median home value | $320,600 | $340,200 | 6.1% higher in Phoenix |
| Median household income | $73,827 | $72,092 | 2.4% higher in Bakersfield |
| Groceries index | 105.1 | 95.8 | 9.6% higher in Bakersfield |
| Utilities index | 155.3 | 96.2 | 61.4% higher in Bakersfield |
| Transportation index | 100.7 | 104.1 | 3.4% higher in Phoenix |
| Healthcare index | 100.6 | 104.0 | 3.4% 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 Bakersfield, you'd need $106,138 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Bakersfield, CA is about 5.8% cheaper overall than Phoenix, AZ, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 31% higher in Phoenix than in Bakersfield. If you earn $80,000 in Bakersfield, you'd need about $84,910 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.