City comparison
Meridian, ID is about 750 miles (1,200 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 900 miles, or about 15 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 Meridian, ID to Phoenix, AZ takes about 1 h 28 min, covering roughly 750 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.
Meridian, ID is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Meridian, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Meridian 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 119,872 in Meridian — about 13.4× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 37 sq mi for Meridian.
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 | Meridian | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,548/mo | $1,322/mo | 17.1% higher in Meridian |
| Median home value | $425,800 | $340,200 | 25.2% higher in Meridian |
| Median household income | $93,296 | $72,092 | 29.4% higher in Meridian |
| Groceries index | 96.9 | 95.8 | 1.1% higher in Meridian |
| Utilities index | 75.6 | 96.2 | 27.3% higher in Phoenix |
| Transportation index | 99.5 | 104.1 | 4.6% higher in Phoenix |
| Healthcare index | 99.4 | 104.0 | 4.6% 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 Meridian, you'd need $108,481 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Meridian, ID is about 7.8% cheaper overall than Phoenix, AZ, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 12% higher in Phoenix than in Meridian. If you earn $80,000 in Meridian, you'd need about $86,785 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.