$100k salary, packing up from Boulder

change
Eugene, OR cityscape

swapping out of boulder

Eugene

or · metro 381k

photo: Tim Mossholder / pexels

a dispatch from

eugene

OR

44.05°N

123.09°W

Eugene is Track Town USA (Hayward Field is the spiritual home of American distance running), the University of Oregon, and a hippie-academic-outdoorsy culture that's been here since the '60s and isn't going anywhere. The Willamette and McKenzie rivers meet just outside town. Saturday Market downtown has been running for over 50 years. Coffee and craft beer are taken seriously. Misty in winter, glorious in summer.

metro381k

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01 · the verdict

the verdict

$54

below Boulder's monthly cost

On paper, Eugene and Boulder are twins. In practice they live very differently.
landable, recorded on the eugene entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,799/mo

19% cheaper than Boulder(vs $2,216/mo)

02state income tax

8.75%

$363/mo more in state tax than Boulder

vs 4.4% in Boulder

03after rent

$5,805/mo

$54 more than Boulder

gross of federal tax. a comparison, not a paycheck.

04a house here

$456k

42% cheaper than Boulder

vs $783k in Boulder

05metro size

381k

vs 327k in Boulder

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

206

pleasant days a year, in eugene.

Boulder barely cracks 178 pleasant ones.

A month here packs 4.5× the events of Boulder.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

75/100

5% lower than Boulder

vs 79/100 in Boulder

Closest outdoor draw: Willamette National Forest, 47.5 mi.

·walk score®

97/100

15% higher than Boulder

vs 84/100 in Boulder

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

9

95% fewer than Boulder

vs 169 nonstops in Boulder

04 · see also

in the same ballpark as eugene:

see also

pensacola

$776/mo cheaper

turn the page

see also

reno

$620/mo cheaper

turn the page

see also

greenville

$436/mo cheaper

turn the page

compare eugene with:

PensacolaRenoGreenville