City comparison
Hackensack, NJ is about 2,100 miles (3,400 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 2,700 miles, or about 44 hours (about 4 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 Hackensack, NJ to Phoenix, AZ takes about 4 h 16 min, covering roughly 2,100 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.
Hackensack, NJ is on Eastern Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 2-hour difference. When it's noon in Hackensack, it's 10 a.m. in Phoenix, which puts Hackensack 2 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.
Phoenix has a population of 1,609,456, vs 45,758 in Hackensack — about 35.2× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 4.2 sq mi for Hackensack.
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 | Hackensack | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,750/mo | $1,322/mo | 32.4% higher in Hackensack |
| Median home value | $353,000 | $340,200 | 3.8% higher in Hackensack |
| Median household income | $79,133 | $72,092 | 9.8% higher in Hackensack |
| Groceries index | 109.4 | 95.8 | 14.2% higher in Hackensack |
| Utilities index | 124.5 | 96.2 | 29.5% higher in Hackensack |
| Transportation index | 105.0 | 104.1 | 0.8% higher in Hackensack |
| Healthcare index | 105.7 | 104.0 | 1.6% higher in Hackensack |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Hackensack, you'd need $86,465 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 13.5% cheaper overall than Hackensack, NJ, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 23% higher in Hackensack than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Hackensack, you'd need about $69,172 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.