City comparison
Ceres, CA is about 550 miles (900 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 700 miles, or about 12 hours 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 Ceres, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 1 h 8 min, covering roughly 550 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.
Ceres, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Ceres, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Ceres 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 49,183 in Ceres — about 32.7× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 9.5 sq mi for Ceres.
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 | Ceres | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,570/mo | $1,322/mo | 18.8% higher in Ceres |
| Median home value | $363,300 | $340,200 | 6.8% higher in Ceres |
| Median household income | $70,191 | $72,092 | 2.7% higher in Phoenix |
| Groceries index | 105.1 | 95.8 | 9.6% higher in Ceres |
| Utilities index | 149.8 | 96.2 | 55.7% higher in Ceres |
| Transportation index | 100.7 | 104.1 | 3.4% higher in Phoenix |
| Healthcare index | 100.6 | 104.0 | 3.4% higher in Phoenix |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Ceres, you'd need $99,006 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 1% cheaper overall than Ceres, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 9% higher in Phoenix than in Ceres. If you earn $80,000 in Ceres, you'd need about $79,205 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.