City comparison
Kent, 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 Kent, 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.
Kent, WA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Kent, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Kent 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 135,169 in Kent — about 11.9× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 34 sq mi for Kent.
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 | Kent | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,742/mo | $1,322/mo | 31.8% higher in Kent |
| Median home value | $478,400 | $340,200 | 40.6% higher in Kent |
| Median household income | $86,966 | $72,092 | 20.6% higher in Kent |
| Groceries index | 104.0 | 95.8 | 8.5% higher in Kent |
| Utilities index | 95.7 | 96.2 | ≈ equal (Phoenix slightly higher) |
| Transportation index | 106.6 | 104.1 | 2.5% higher in Kent |
| Healthcare index | 106.6 | 104.0 | 2.5% higher in Kent |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Kent, you'd need $87,878 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 12.1% cheaper overall than Kent, WA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 25% higher in Kent than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Kent, you'd need about $70,303 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.