City comparison
Milpitas, CA is about 600 miles (1,000 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 750 miles, or about 13 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 Milpitas, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 1 h 13 min, covering roughly 600 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.
Milpitas, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Milpitas, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Milpitas 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 79,092 in Milpitas — about 20.3× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 13 sq mi for Milpitas.
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 | Milpitas | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,981/mo | $1,322/mo | 125.5% higher in Milpitas |
| Median home value | $1,155,000 | $340,200 | 239.5% higher in Milpitas |
| Median household income | $166,769 | $72,092 | 131.3% higher in Milpitas |
| Groceries index | 105.8 | 95.8 | 10.4% higher in Milpitas |
| Utilities index | 157.2 | 96.2 | 63.4% higher in Milpitas |
| Transportation index | 101.9 | 104.1 | 2.1% higher in Phoenix |
| Healthcare index | 101.9 | 104.0 | 2.1% 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 Milpitas, you'd need $70,795 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 29.2% cheaper overall than Milpitas, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 76% higher in Milpitas than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Milpitas, you'd need about $56,636 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.