City comparison
Los Angeles, CA is about 350 miles (550 km) from Surprise, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 425 miles, or about 7 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 Los Angeles, CA to Surprise, AZ takes about 41 min, covering roughly 350 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 Surprise, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Los Angeles, it's 1 p.m. in Surprise, 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 145,591 in Surprise — about 26.7× larger by population. By land area, Los Angeles covers about 470 sq mi vs 110 sq mi for Surprise.
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 | Surprise | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,791/mo | $1,822/mo | 1.7% higher in Surprise |
| Median home value | $822,600 | $352,600 | 133.3% higher in Los Angeles |
| Median household income | $76,244 | $87,756 | 15.1% higher in Surprise |
| 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 (Surprise 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 $81,136 in Surprise to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Surprise, AZ is about 18.9% cheaper overall than Los Angeles, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 36% higher in Los Angeles than in Surprise. If you earn $80,000 in Los Angeles, you'd need about $64,909 in Surprise to keep the same standard of living.