$100k salary, packing up from Houston

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Providence, RI cityscape

from houston

Providence

ri · metro 1.7M

a dispatch from

providence

RI

41.82°N

71.42°W

Providence is what a college town looks like wearing a former industrial capital's old leather jacket. Brown and RISD pour creatives in by the thousand, Federal Hill has been feeding them red sauce since forever, and on summer nights WaterFire literally lights bonfires up and down the river. It's cheap enough that Boston refugees actually stay. The state capitol has the fourth-largest self-supporting marble dome in the world, and you'll be told within an hour of arrival.

metro1.7M

01 · the verdict

the verdict

$1,016

the monthly premium over Houston

Providence costs noticeably more than Houston. You'd be paying for Providence itself, not for breathing room around it.
landable, recorded on the providence entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$2,127/mo

32% more expensive than Houston(vs $1,610/mo)

02state income tax

5.99%

$499/mo more in state tax than Houston

vs 0% in Houston

03after rent

$5,707/mo

$1,016 less than Houston

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

04a house here

$528k

70% more expensive than Houston

vs $311k in Houston

05metro size

1.7M

vs 7.5M in Houston

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

159

pleasant days a year, in providence.

Houston actually gets more: 171 pleasant days a year. Cold snaps are part of the year: 35 days below 20° here, 1 in Houston.

But the calendar thins out: Houston stays 10.1× busier.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

63/100

15% higher than Houston

vs 55/100 in Houston

Closest outdoor draw: Acushnet Cedar Swamp State Reservation, 23.8 mi.

·walk score®

96/100

25% higher than Houston

vs 77/100 in Houston

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

17

90% fewer than Houston

vs 176 nonstops in Houston

04 · see also

cities that play in providence's register:

compare providence with: