City comparison
Clifton, NJ is about 2,100 miles (3,400 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 2,700 miles, or about 44 hours (about 4 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 Clifton, NJ to Phoenix, AZ takes about 4 h 15 min, covering roughly 2,100 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.
Clifton, NJ is on Eastern Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 2-hour difference. When it's noon in Clifton, it's 10 a.m. in Phoenix, which puts Clifton 2 hours ahead.
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 89,451 in Clifton — about 18.0× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 11 sq mi for Clifton.
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 | Clifton | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,633/mo | $1,322/mo | 23.5% higher in Clifton |
| Median home value | $428,000 | $340,200 | 25.8% higher in Clifton |
| Median household income | $94,179 | $72,092 | 30.6% higher in Clifton |
| Groceries index | 109.4 | 95.8 | 14.2% higher in Clifton |
| Utilities index | 124.5 | 96.2 | 29.5% higher in Clifton |
| Transportation index | 105.0 | 104.1 | 0.8% higher in Clifton |
| Healthcare index | 105.7 | 104.0 | 1.6% higher in Clifton |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Clifton, you'd need $86,707 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 13.3% cheaper overall than Clifton, NJ, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 23% higher in Clifton than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Clifton, you'd need about $69,365 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.