$100k salary, packing up from San Francisco

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Providence, RI cityscape

swapping out of san francisco

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

$1,295

less monthly outlay than San Francisco

Providence is the kind of cheap that changes the math. Same salary, a different life on the other side.
landable, recorded on the providence entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$2,127/mo

32% cheaper than San Francisco(vs $3,146/mo)

02state income tax

5.99%

$276/mo less in state tax than San Francisco

vs 9.3% in San Francisco

03after rent

$5,707/mo

$1,295 more than San Francisco

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

04a house here

$528k

57% cheaper than San Francisco

vs $1239k in San Francisco

05metro size

1.7M

vs 4.6M in San Francisco

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

159

pleasant days a year, in providence.

San Francisco edges ahead with 312 pleasant days. Winter has bite, though: 35 days drop below 20° vs San Francisco's 0.

Lighter on events: San Francisco packs 12.3× more into a month.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

63/100

24% lower than San Francisco

vs 83/100 in San Francisco

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

·walk score®

96/100

3% lower than San Francisco

vs 99/100 in San Francisco

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

17

85% fewer than San Francisco

vs 111 nonstops in San Francisco

04 · see also

same energy as providence, different zip code:

compare providence with: