City comparison
Brea, CA is about 325 miles (550 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 425 miles, or about 7 h 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 Brea, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 40 min, covering roughly 325 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.
Brea, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Brea, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Brea 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 47,099 in Brea — about 34.2× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 13 sq mi for Brea.
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 | Brea | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,218/mo | $1,322/mo | 67.8% higher in Brea |
| Median home value | $834,600 | $340,200 | 145.3% higher in Brea |
| Median household income | $120,226 | $72,092 | 66.8% higher in Brea |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 95.8 | 11.0% higher in Brea |
| Utilities index | 155.6 | 96.2 | 61.7% higher in Brea |
| Transportation index | 104.4 | 104.1 | ≈ equal (Brea slightly higher) |
| Healthcare index | 104.3 | 104.0 | ≈ equal (Brea 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 Brea, you'd need $79,028 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 21% cheaper overall than Brea, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 43% higher in Brea than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Brea, you'd need about $63,222 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.