City comparison
Phoenix, AZ is about 1,100 miles (1,800 km) from Urbandale, IA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,400 miles, or about 24 hours (about 2 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 Phoenix, AZ to Urbandale, IA takes about 2 h 17 min, covering roughly 1,100 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 Urbandale, IA is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Phoenix, it's 1 p.m. in Urbandale, which puts Phoenix 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 45,591 in Urbandale — about 35.3× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 23 sq mi for Urbandale.
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 | Urbandale | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,322/mo | $1,108/mo | 19.3% higher in Phoenix |
| Median home value | $340,200 | $298,500 | 14.0% higher in Phoenix |
| Median household income | $72,092 | $111,888 | 55.2% higher in Urbandale |
| Groceries index | 95.8 | 94.0 | 2.0% higher in Phoenix |
| Utilities index | 96.2 | 85.2 | 12.9% higher in Phoenix |
| Transportation index | 104.1 | 93.3 | 11.6% higher in Phoenix |
| Healthcare index | 104.0 | 93.5 | 11.3% 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 $82,118 in Urbandale to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Urbandale, IA is about 17.9% cheaper overall than Phoenix, AZ, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 41% higher in Phoenix than in Urbandale. If you earn $80,000 in Phoenix, you'd need about $65,694 in Urbandale to keep the same standard of living.