City comparison
Newport News, VA is about 550 miles (850 km) from Pontiac, MI in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 650 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 Newport News, VA to Pontiac, MI takes about 1 h 3 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.
Newport News, VA is on Eastern Time and Pontiac, MI is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Newport News, it's 11 a.m. in Pontiac, which puts Newport News 1 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.
Newport News has a population of 185,118, vs 61,965 in Pontiac — about 3.0× larger by population. By land area, Newport News covers about 69 sq mi vs 20 sq mi for Pontiac.
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 | Newport News | Pontiac | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,209/mo | $947/mo | 27.7% higher in Newport News |
| Median home value | $233,400 | $100,100 | 133.2% higher in Newport News |
| Median household income | $63,355 | $40,307 | 57.2% higher in Newport News |
| Groceries index | 96.9 | 98.6 | 1.7% higher in Pontiac |
| Utilities index | 90.0 | 105.6 | 17.3% higher in Pontiac |
| Transportation index | 98.8 | 102.1 | 3.3% higher in Pontiac |
| Healthcare index | 98.3 | 102.3 | 4.1% higher in Pontiac |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Newport News, you'd need $100,051 in Pontiac to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Newport News and Pontiac have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. Housing costs are roughly 7% higher in Newport News than in Pontiac. If you earn $80,000 in Newport News, you'd need about $80,041 in Pontiac to keep the same standard of living.