City comparison
Burien, WA is about 2,300 miles (3,700 km) from Silver Spring, MD in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 2,900 miles, or about 48 hours (about 5 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 Burien, WA to Silver Spring, MD takes about 4 h 38 min, covering roughly 2,300 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.
Burien, WA is on Pacific Time and Silver Spring, MD is on Eastern Time — a 3-hour difference. When it's noon in Burien, it's 3 p.m. in Silver Spring, which puts Burien 3 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.
Silver Spring has a population of 81,808, vs 51,505 in Burien — about 1.6× larger by population. By land area, Burien covers about 10 sq mi vs 7.9 sq mi for Silver Spring.
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 | Burien | Silver Spring | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,649/mo | $1,826/mo | 10.7% higher in Silver Spring |
| Median home value | $566,500 | $606,100 | 7.0% higher in Silver Spring |
| Median household income | $84,583 | $95,213 | 12.6% higher in Silver Spring |
| Groceries index | 104.0 | 104.3 | ≈ equal (Silver Spring slightly higher) |
| Utilities index | 95.7 | 105.6 | 10.4% higher in Silver Spring |
| Transportation index | 106.6 | 102.2 | 4.4% higher in Burien |
| Healthcare index | 106.6 | 101.6 | 4.9% higher in Burien |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Burien, you'd need $99,935 in Silver Spring to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Burien and Silver Spring have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. If you earn $80,000 in Burien, you'd need about $79,948 in Silver Spring to keep the same standard of living.