on $100k a year, leaving San Francisco
changea dispatch from
durham
NC
35.99°N
78.90°W
Durham is Duke University, old tobacco warehouses turned into incredible restaurants and breweries (the American Tobacco Campus is a model for adaptive reuse), and a food scene that punches way above its size (multiple James Beard winners). Bull City pride runs deep. The Eno River and Duke Gardens are right in town. It's more diverse, weirder, and more interesting than outsiders expect.
the verdict
under San Francisco, every month
Durham is the kind of cheap that changes the math. Same salary, a different life on the other side.
a quick ledger.
$1,684/mo
46% cheaper than San Francisco(vs $3,146/mo)
4.5%
$400/mo less in state tax than San Francisco
vs 9.3% in San Francisco
$6,274/mo
$1,862 more than San Francisco
gross of federal tax. a comparison, not a paycheck.
$415k
67% cheaper than San Francisco
vs $1239k in San Francisco
609k
vs 4.6M in San Francisco
field notes, weather & such.
178
pleasant days a year, in durham.
San Francisco gets 312 pleasant days a year, so you'd be trading some sunshine.
Lighter on events: San Francisco packs 7.4× more into a month.
50/100
40% lower than San Francisco
vs 83/100 in San Francisco
Closest outdoor draw: William B. Umstead State Park, 10.9 mi.
80/100
19% lower than San Francisco
vs 99/100 in San Francisco
39
65% fewer than San Francisco
vs 111 nonstops in San Francisco
same energy as durham, different zip code:
compare durham with:
