City comparison
Bismarck, ND is about 1,400 miles (2,200 km) from Philadelphia, PA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,700 miles, or about 28 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 Bismarck, ND to Philadelphia, PA takes about 2 h 44 min, covering roughly 1,400 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 Philadelphia, PA is on Eastern Time — a 2-hour difference. When it's noon in Bismarck, it's 2 p.m. in Philadelphia, which puts Bismarck 2 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.
Philadelphia has a population of 1,593,208, vs 73,694 in Bismarck — about 21.6× larger by population. By land area, Philadelphia covers about 135 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 | Philadelphia | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $969/mo | $1,250/mo | 29.0% higher in Philadelphia |
| Median home value | $283,800 | $215,500 | 31.7% higher in Bismarck |
| Median household income | $76,014 | $57,537 | 32.1% higher in Bismarck |
| Groceries index | 95.8 | 97.0 | 1.3% higher in Philadelphia |
| Utilities index | 76.5 | 112.3 | 46.8% higher in Philadelphia |
| Transportation index | 91.7 | 101.7 | 11.0% higher in Philadelphia |
| Healthcare index | 91.9 | 102.7 | 11.8% higher in Philadelphia |
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 $121,468 in Philadelphia to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Bismarck, ND is about 17.7% cheaper overall than Philadelphia, PA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 34% higher in Philadelphia than in Bismarck. If you earn $80,000 in Bismarck, you'd need about $97,174 in Philadelphia to keep the same standard of living.