City comparison
Chico, CA is about 700 miles (1,100 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 850 miles, or about 14 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 Chico, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 1 h 22 min, covering roughly 700 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.
Chico, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Chico, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Chico 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 102,790 in Chico — about 15.7× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 34 sq mi for Chico.
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 | Chico | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,360/mo | $1,322/mo | 2.9% higher in Chico |
| Median home value | $427,600 | $340,200 | 25.7% higher in Chico |
| Median household income | $65,932 | $72,092 | 9.3% higher in Phoenix |
| Groceries index | 105.1 | 95.8 | 9.6% higher in Chico |
| Utilities index | 155.8 | 96.2 | 62.0% higher in Chico |
| 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 Chico, you'd need $105,202 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Chico, CA is about 4.9% cheaper overall than Phoenix, AZ, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 28% higher in Phoenix than in Chico. If you earn $80,000 in Chico, you'd need about $84,162 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.