City comparison
Monterey Park, CA is about 350 miles (550 km) from Phoenix, 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 Monterey Park, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 42 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.
Monterey Park, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Monterey Park, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Monterey Park 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 60,386 in Monterey Park — about 26.7× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 7.7 sq mi for Monterey Park.
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 | Monterey Park | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,791/mo | $1,322/mo | 35.5% higher in Monterey Park |
| Median home value | $770,100 | $340,200 | 126.4% higher in Monterey Park |
| Median household income | $76,892 | $72,092 | 6.7% higher in Monterey Park |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 95.8 | 11.0% higher in Monterey Park |
| Utilities index | 155.6 | 96.2 | 61.7% higher in Monterey Park |
| Transportation index | 104.4 | 104.1 | ≈ equal (Monterey Park slightly higher) |
| Healthcare index | 104.3 | 104.0 | ≈ equal (Monterey Park 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 Monterey Park, you'd need $79,771 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 20.2% cheaper overall than Monterey Park, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 40% higher in Monterey Park than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Monterey Park, you'd need about $63,817 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.