City comparison
Bismarck, ND is about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from Memphis, TN 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 Bismarck, ND to Memphis, TN takes about 1 h 58 min, covering roughly 1,000 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.
Bismarck, ND is on Mountain Time and Memphis, TN is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Bismarck, it's 1 p.m. in Memphis, which puts Bismarck 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.
Memphis has a population of 630,027, vs 73,694 in Bismarck — about 8.5× larger by population. By land area, Memphis covers about 290 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 | Bismarck | Memphis | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $969/mo | $1,050/mo | 8.4% higher in Memphis |
| Median home value | $283,800 | $139,600 | 103.3% higher in Bismarck |
| Median household income | $76,014 | $48,090 | 58.1% higher in Bismarck |
| Groceries index | 95.8 | 96.4 | 0.7% higher in Memphis |
| Utilities index | 76.5 | 76.0 | 0.7% higher in Bismarck |
| Transportation index | 91.7 | 95.8 | 4.5% higher in Memphis |
| Healthcare index | 91.9 | 95.3 | 3.8% higher in Memphis |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Bismarck, you'd need $99,943 in Memphis to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Bismarck and Memphis have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 4% higher in Bismarck than in Memphis. If you earn $80,000 in Bismarck, you'd need about $79,954 in Memphis to keep the same standard of living.