City comparison
Las Vegas, NV is about 250 miles (425 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 325 miles, or about 5 h 15 min 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 Las Vegas, NV to Phoenix, AZ takes about 31 min, covering roughly 250 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.
Las Vegas, NV is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Las Vegas, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Las Vegas 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 644,835 in Las Vegas — about 2.5× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 140 sq mi for Las Vegas.
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 | Las Vegas | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,356/mo | $1,322/mo | 2.6% higher in Las Vegas |
| Median home value | $365,300 | $340,200 | 7.4% higher in Las Vegas |
| Median household income | $66,356 | $72,092 | 8.6% higher in Phoenix |
| Groceries index | 97.0 | 95.8 | 1.2% higher in Las Vegas |
| Utilities index | 93.8 | 96.2 | 2.6% higher in Phoenix |
| Transportation index | 99.3 | 104.1 | 4.8% higher in Phoenix |
| Healthcare index | 99.2 | 104.0 | 4.8% 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 Las Vegas, you'd need $103,488 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Las Vegas, NV is about 3.4% cheaper overall than Phoenix, AZ, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 4% higher in Phoenix than in Las Vegas. If you earn $80,000 in Las Vegas, you'd need about $82,790 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.