City comparison
Carson, CA is about 350 miles (550 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 Carson, 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.
Carson, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Carson, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Carson 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 94,475 in Carson — about 17.0× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 19 sq mi for Carson.
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 | Carson | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,815/mo | $1,322/mo | 37.3% higher in Carson |
| Median home value | $616,000 | $340,200 | 81.1% higher in Carson |
| Median household income | $103,045 | $72,092 | 42.9% higher in Carson |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 95.8 | 11.0% higher in Carson |
| Utilities index | 155.6 | 96.2 | 61.7% higher in Carson |
| Transportation index | 104.4 | 104.1 | ≈ equal (Carson slightly higher) |
| Healthcare index | 104.3 | 104.0 | ≈ equal (Carson 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 Carson, you'd need $79,730 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 20.3% cheaper overall than Carson, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 40% higher in Carson than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Carson, you'd need about $63,784 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.