City comparison
Glendale, AZ is about 600 miles (950 km) from Sparks, NV in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 750 miles, or about 12 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 Glendale, AZ to Sparks, NV takes about 1 h 11 min, covering roughly 600 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.
Glendale, AZ is on Mountain Time and Sparks, NV is on Pacific Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Glendale, it's 11 a.m. in Sparks, which puts Glendale 1 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.
Glendale has a population of 248,083, vs 108,025 in Sparks — about 2.3× larger by population. By land area, Glendale covers about 67 sq mi vs 36 sq mi for Sparks.
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 | Glendale | Sparks | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,268/mo | $1,526/mo | 20.3% higher in Sparks |
| Median home value | $310,000 | $423,500 | 36.6% higher in Sparks |
| Median household income | $66,375 | $82,938 | 25.0% higher in Sparks |
| Groceries index | 95.8 | 97.0 | 1.2% higher in Sparks |
| Utilities index | 96.2 | 92.5 | 4.0% higher in Glendale |
| Transportation index | 104.1 | 99.3 | 4.8% higher in Glendale |
| Healthcare index | 104.0 | 99.2 | 4.8% higher in Glendale |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Glendale, you'd need $99,963 in Sparks to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Glendale and Sparks have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 3% higher in Sparks than in Glendale. If you earn $80,000 in Glendale, you'd need about $79,970 in Sparks to keep the same standard of living.