City comparison
Gresham, OR is about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,200 miles, or about 21 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 Gresham, OR to Phoenix, AZ takes about 1 h 59 min, covering roughly 1,000 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.
Gresham, OR is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Gresham, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Gresham 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 113,525 in Gresham — about 14.2× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 24 sq mi for Gresham.
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 | Gresham | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,452/mo | $1,322/mo | 9.8% higher in Gresham |
| Median home value | $411,700 | $340,200 | 21.0% higher in Gresham |
| Median household income | $69,437 | $72,092 | 3.8% higher in Phoenix |
| Groceries index | 105.1 | 95.8 | 9.7% higher in Gresham |
| Utilities index | 108.6 | 96.2 | 12.9% higher in Gresham |
| Transportation index | 100.5 | 104.1 | 3.5% higher in Phoenix |
| Healthcare index | 100.5 | 104.0 | 3.5% higher in Phoenix |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Gresham, you'd need $96,956 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 3% cheaper overall than Gresham, OR, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 4% higher in Gresham than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Gresham, you'd need about $77,565 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.