City comparison
Burbank, CA is about 350 miles (600 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 450 miles, or about 7 h 30 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 Burbank, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 43 min, covering roughly 350 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.
Burbank, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Burbank, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Burbank 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 106,389 in Burbank — about 15.1× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 17 sq mi for Burbank.
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 | Burbank | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,004/mo | $1,322/mo | 51.6% higher in Burbank |
| Median home value | $959,700 | $340,200 | 182.1% higher in Burbank |
| Median household income | $91,455 | $72,092 | 26.9% higher in Burbank |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 95.8 | 11.0% higher in Burbank |
| Utilities index | 155.6 | 96.2 | 61.7% higher in Burbank |
| Transportation index | 104.4 | 104.1 | ≈ equal (Burbank slightly higher) |
| Healthcare index | 104.3 | 104.0 | ≈ equal (Burbank 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 Burbank, you'd need $79,398 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 20.6% cheaper overall than Burbank, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 41% higher in Burbank than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Burbank, you'd need about $63,518 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.