City comparison
Palm Springs, CA is about 250 miles (400 km) from Phoenix, AZ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 325 miles, or about 5 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 Palm Springs, CA to Phoenix, AZ takes about 31 min, covering roughly 250 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.
Palm Springs, CA is on Pacific Time and Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Palm Springs, it's 1 p.m. in Phoenix, which puts Palm Springs 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 44,935 in Palm Springs — about 35.8× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 95 sq mi for Palm Springs.
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 | Palm Springs | Phoenix | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,397/mo | $1,322/mo | 5.7% higher in Palm Springs |
| Median home value | $504,700 | $340,200 | 48.4% higher in Palm Springs |
| Median household income | $67,451 | $72,092 | 6.9% higher in Phoenix |
| Groceries index | 101.7 | 95.8 | 6.1% higher in Palm Springs |
| Utilities index | 146.5 | 96.2 | 52.3% higher in Palm Springs |
| Transportation index | 101.6 | 104.1 | 2.5% higher in Phoenix |
| Healthcare index | 101.5 | 104.0 | 2.5% 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 Palm Springs, you'd need $93,115 in Phoenix to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 6.9% cheaper overall than Palm Springs, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 7% higher in Palm Springs than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Palm Springs, you'd need about $74,492 in Phoenix to keep the same standard of living.