City comparison
Gardena, CA is about 350 miles (600 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 450 miles, or about 7 h 30 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 Gardena, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 43 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.
Gardena, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Gardena, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Gardena 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 60,377 in Gardena — about 26.7× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 5.8 sq mi for Gardena.
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 | Gardena | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,638/mo | $1,322/mo | 23.9% higher in Gardena |
| Median home value | $619,900 | $340,200 | 82.2% higher in Gardena |
| Median household income | $75,443 | $72,092 | 4.6% higher in Gardena |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 95.8 | 11.0% higher in Gardena |
| Utilities index | 155.6 | 96.2 | 61.7% higher in Gardena |
| Transportation index | 104.4 | 104.1 | ≈ equal (Gardena slightly higher) |
| Healthcare index | 104.3 | 104.0 | ≈ equal (Gardena 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 Gardena, you'd need $80,041 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 20% cheaper overall than Gardena, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 39% higher in Gardena than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Gardena, you'd need about $64,033 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.