same $100k income, fresh start from Houston
changea dispatch from
rochester
NY
43.16°N
77.62°W
Rochester is the city that Kodak and Xerox built, with a quiet college-town soul (UofR, RIT, Eastman School of Music). The Garbage Plate (cheeseburger, mac salad, home fries, hot sauce, on one plate) is the closest thing to a citywide handshake. Frederick Douglass made his home here, and the Susan B. Anthony House is downtown. The Finger Lakes wine country is right next door.
the verdict
more expensive each month than Houston
Rochester costs meaningfully more. Whether it earns that back in the day-to-day is the actual question.
a quick ledger.
$1,534/mo
5% cheaper than Houston(vs $1,610/mo)
5.85%
$488/mo more in state tax than Houston
vs 0% in Houston
$6,312/mo
$411 less than Houston
gross of federal tax. a comparison, not a paycheck.
$273k
12% cheaper than Houston
vs $311k in Houston
1.1M
vs 7.5M in Houston
field notes, weather & such.
147
pleasant days a year, in rochester.
Houston has the edge here, logging 171 pleasant days a year. The trade is winter: 48 days below 20°, vs 1 in Houston.
86% fewer events than Houston. The pace eases up.
58/100
5% higher than Houston
vs 55/100 in Houston
Closest outdoor draw: Letchworth State Park, 44.2 mi.
69/100
10% lower than Houston
vs 77/100 in Houston
18
90% fewer than Houston
vs 176 nonstops in Houston
neighbors of rochester on the map of tradeoffs:
compare rochester with:
