City comparison
Los Angeles, CA is about 375 miles (600 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 450 miles, or about 7 h 30 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 Los Angeles, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 44 min, covering roughly 375 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.
Los Angeles, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Los Angeles, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Los Angeles 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.
Los Angeles has a population of 3,881,041, vs 1,609,456 in Phoenix — about 2.4× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 470 sq mi for Los Angeles.
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 | Los Angeles | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,791/mo | $1,322/mo | 35.5% higher in Los Angeles |
| Median home value | $822,600 | $340,200 | 141.8% higher in Los Angeles |
| Median household income | $76,244 | $72,092 | 5.8% higher in Los Angeles |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 95.8 | 11.0% higher in Los Angeles |
| Utilities index | 151.7 | 96.2 | 57.7% higher in Los Angeles |
| Transportation index | 104.0 | 104.1 | ≈ equal (Phoenix slightly higher) |
| Healthcare index | 104.3 | 104.0 | ≈ equal (Los Angeles slightly higher) |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Los Angeles, you'd need $80,024 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 20% cheaper overall than Los Angeles, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 40% higher in Los Angeles than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Los Angeles, you'd need about $64,019 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.