City comparison
Phoenix, AZ is about 1,100 miles (1,800 km) from West Des Moines, 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 West Des Moines, 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 West Des Moines, IA is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Phoenix, it's 1 p.m. in West Des Moines, 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 68,744 in West Des Moines — about 23.4× larger by population. By land area, Phoenix covers about 520 sq mi vs 47 sq mi for West Des Moines.
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 | West Des Moines | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,322/mo | $1,153/mo | 14.7% higher in Phoenix |
| Median home value | $340,200 | $266,700 | 27.6% higher in Phoenix |
| Median household income | $72,092 | $82,345 | 14.2% higher in West Des Moines |
| 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 $82,247 in West Des Moines to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
West Des Moines, IA is about 17.8% cheaper overall than Phoenix, AZ, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 40% higher in Phoenix than in West Des Moines. If you earn $80,000 in Phoenix, you'd need about $65,797 in West Des Moines to keep the same standard of living.