City comparison
Phoenix, AZ is about 700 miles (1,100 km) from San Francisco, CA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 850 miles, or about 14 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 Phoenix, AZ to San Francisco, CA takes about 1 h 21 min, covering roughly 700 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.
Phoenix, AZ is on Mountain Time and San Francisco, CA is on Pacific Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Phoenix, it's 11 a.m. in San Francisco, which puts Phoenix 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.
Phoenix has a population of 1,609,456, vs 851,036 in San Francisco — about 1.9× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 47 sq mi for San Francisco.
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 | Phoenix | San Francisco | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,322/mo | $2,316/mo | 75.2% higher in San Francisco |
| Median home value | $340,200 | $1,348,700 | 296.4% higher in San Francisco |
| Median household income | $72,092 | $136,689 | 89.6% higher in San Francisco |
| Groceries index | 95.8 | 103.9 | 8.5% higher in San Francisco |
| Utilities index | 96.2 | 162.7 | 69.1% higher in San Francisco |
| Transportation index | 104.1 | 102.0 | 2.0% higher in Phoenix |
| Healthcare index | 104.0 | 100.2 | 3.9% 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 Phoenix, you'd need $134,761 in San Francisco to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Phoenix, AZ is about 25.8% cheaper overall than San Francisco, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 62% higher in San Francisco than in Phoenix. If you earn $80,000 in Phoenix, you'd need about $107,808 in San Francisco to keep the same standard of living.