City comparison
San Diego, CA is about 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from West Haven, CT in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 3,100 miles, or about 52 hours (about 5 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 San Diego, CA to West Haven, CT takes about 4 h 57 min, covering roughly 2,500 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.
San Diego, CA is on Pacific Time and West Haven, CT is on Eastern Time — a 3-hour difference. When it's noon in San Diego, it's 3 p.m. in West Haven, which puts San Diego 3 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.
San Diego has a population of 1,383,987, vs 55,336 in West Haven — about 25.0× larger by population. By land area, San Diego covers about 325 sq mi vs 11 sq mi for West Haven.
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 | San Diego | West Haven | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,080/mo | $1,322/mo | 57.3% higher in San Diego |
| Median home value | $783,300 | $247,800 | 216.1% higher in San Diego |
| Median household income | $98,657 | $72,827 | 35.5% higher in San Diego |
| Groceries index | 107.6 | 106.7 | 0.8% higher in San Diego |
| Utilities index | 169.8 | 128.3 | 32.4% higher in San Diego |
| Transportation index | 100.0 | 104.3 | 4.2% higher in West Haven |
| Healthcare index | 100.0 | 105.1 | 5.1% higher in West Haven |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in San Diego, you'd need $86,712 in West Haven to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
West Haven, CT is about 13.3% cheaper overall than San Diego, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 28% higher in San Diego than in West Haven. If you earn $80,000 in San Diego, you'd need about $69,369 in West Haven to keep the same standard of living.