$100k salary, packing up from Tampa

change
Eugene, OR cityscape

if you left tampa

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

$532

the monthly cost of moving past Tampa

Eugene costs more than Tampa, and you'll feel it. The upside has to come from somewhere other than your budget.
landable, recorded on the eugene entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,799/mo

10% cheaper than Tampa(vs $1,996/mo)

02state income tax

8.75%

$729/mo more in state tax than Tampa

vs 0% in Tampa

03after rent

$5,805/mo

$532 less than Tampa

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

04a house here

$456k

22% more expensive than Tampa

vs $374k in Tampa

05metro size

381k

vs 3.3M in Tampa

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

206

pleasant days a year, in eugene.

Tampa gets 243 pleasant days a year, so you'd be trading some sunshine.

But the calendar thins out: Tampa stays 1.8× busier.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

75/100

21% higher than Tampa

vs 62/100 in Tampa

Closest outdoor draw: Willamette National Forest, 47.5 mi.

·walk score®

97/100

5% higher than Tampa

vs 92/100 in Tampa

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

9

87% fewer than Tampa

vs 68 nonstops in Tampa

04 · see also

neighbors of eugene on the map of tradeoffs:

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