City comparison
Los Banos, CA is about 550 miles (900 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 700 miles, or about 11 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 Los Banos, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 1 h 6 min, covering roughly 550 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 Banos, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Los Banos, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Los Banos 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 45,560 in Los Banos — about 35.3× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 10 sq mi for Los Banos.
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 Banos | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,433/mo | $1,322/mo | 8.4% higher in Los Banos |
| Median home value | $389,500 | $340,200 | 14.5% higher in Los Banos |
| Median household income | $76,164 | $72,092 | 5.6% higher in Los Banos |
| Groceries index | 105.1 | 95.8 | 9.6% higher in Los Banos |
| Utilities index | 155.3 | 96.2 | 61.5% higher in Los Banos |
| Transportation index | 100.7 | 104.1 | 3.4% higher in Phoenix |
| Healthcare index | 100.6 | 104.0 | 3.4% 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 Los Banos, you'd need $110,501 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Los Banos, CA is about 9.5% cheaper overall than Phoenix, AZ, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 46% higher in Phoenix than in Los Banos. If you earn $80,000 in Los Banos, you'd need about $88,400 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.