City comparison
Compton, 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 15 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 Compton, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 42 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.
Compton, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Compton, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Compton 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 94,822 in Compton — about 17.0× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 10 sq mi for Compton.
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 | Compton | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,464/mo | $1,322/mo | 10.7% higher in Compton |
| Median home value | $489,400 | $340,200 | 43.9% higher in Compton |
| Median household income | $69,728 | $72,092 | 3.4% higher in Phoenix |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 95.8 | 11.0% higher in Compton |
| Utilities index | 155.6 | 96.2 | 61.7% higher in Compton |
| Transportation index | 104.4 | 104.1 | ≈ equal (Compton slightly higher) |
| Healthcare index | 104.3 | 104.0 | ≈ equal (Compton 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 Compton, you'd need $80,349 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 19.7% cheaper overall than Compton, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 38% higher in Compton than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Compton, you'd need about $64,279 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.