City comparison
Federal Way, WA is about 1,100 miles (1,800 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,400 miles, or about 23 hours (about 2 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 Federal Way, WA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 2 h 11 min, covering roughly 1,100 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.
Federal Way, WA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Federal Way, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Federal Way 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 99,614 in Federal Way — about 16.2× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 22 sq mi for Federal Way.
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 | Federal Way | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,660/mo | $1,322/mo | 25.6% higher in Federal Way |
| Median home value | $454,300 | $340,200 | 33.5% higher in Federal Way |
| Median household income | $80,360 | $72,092 | 11.5% higher in Federal Way |
| Groceries index | 104.0 | 95.8 | 8.5% higher in Federal Way |
| Utilities index | 95.7 | 96.2 | ≈ equal (Phoenix slightly higher) |
| Transportation index | 106.6 | 104.1 | 2.5% higher in Federal Way |
| Healthcare index | 106.6 | 104.0 | 2.5% higher in Federal Way |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Federal Way, you'd need $88,049 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 12% cheaper overall than Federal Way, WA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 25% higher in Federal Way than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Federal Way, you'd need about $70,439 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.