City comparison
New Bedford, MA is about 2,300 miles (3,700 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 2,900 miles, or about 48 hours (about 5 days at 10 h/day) 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 New Bedford, MA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 4 h 36 min, covering roughly 2,300 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.
New Bedford, MA is on Eastern Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 2-hour difference. When it's noon in New Bedford, it's 10 a.m. in Phoenix, which puts New Bedford 2 hours ahead.
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 100,620 in New Bedford — about 16.0× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 20 sq mi for New Bedford.
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 | New Bedford | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,026/mo | $1,322/mo | 28.8% higher in Phoenix |
| Median home value | $291,300 | $340,200 | 16.8% higher in Phoenix |
| Median household income | $54,604 | $72,092 | 32.0% higher in Phoenix |
| Groceries index | 97.5 | 95.8 | 1.7% higher in New Bedford |
| Utilities index | 144.3 | 96.2 | 50.1% higher in New Bedford |
| Transportation index | 101.7 | 104.1 | 2.3% higher in Phoenix |
| Healthcare index | 102.5 | 104.0 | 1.5% 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 New Bedford, you'd need $103,488 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
New Bedford, MA is about 3.4% cheaper overall than Phoenix, AZ, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 18% higher in Phoenix than in New Bedford. If you earn $80,000 in New Bedford, you'd need about $82,790 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.