City comparison
Lakewood, OH is about 600 miles (1,000 km) from Urbandale, IA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 750 miles, or about 13 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 Lakewood, OH to Urbandale, IA takes about 1 h 14 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.
Lakewood, OH is on Eastern Time and Urbandale, IA is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Lakewood, it's 11 a.m. in Urbandale, which puts Lakewood 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.
Lakewood has a population of 50,605, vs 45,591 in Urbandale — about 1.1× larger by population. By land area, Urbandale covers about 23 sq mi vs 5.5 sq mi for Lakewood.
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 | Lakewood | Urbandale | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $941/mo | $1,108/mo | 17.7% higher in Urbandale |
| Median home value | $221,100 | $298,500 | 35.0% higher in Urbandale |
| Median household income | $63,299 | $111,888 | 76.8% higher in Urbandale |
| Groceries index | 93.9 | 94.0 | ≈ equal (Urbandale slightly higher) |
| Utilities index | 95.6 | 85.2 | 12.2% higher in Lakewood |
| Transportation index | 98.8 | 93.3 | 5.9% higher in Lakewood |
| Healthcare index | 99.0 | 93.5 | 5.9% higher in Lakewood |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Lakewood, you'd need $99,866 in Urbandale to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Lakewood and Urbandale have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 8% higher in Urbandale than in Lakewood. If you earn $80,000 in Lakewood, you'd need about $79,892 in Urbandale to keep the same standard of living.