on $100k a year, leaving Allentown
changea dispatch from
san jose
CA
37.34°N
121.89°W
San Jose is Silicon Valley's anchor city, much bigger than San Francisco by population, and culturally underrated because everyone drives through it on the way somewhere else. The Vietnamese food scene (especially in Little Saigon) is one of the best in the country. The weather is impossibly mild, the Santa Cruz Mountains rise to the west, and the tech money funds a genuinely excellent restaurant scene.
the verdict
more each month than Allentown ran you
San Jose doesn't pretend to be affordable. Move here for what San Jose is, not for what it leaves on your monthly ledger.
a quick ledger.
$3,470/mo
92% more expensive than Allentown(vs $1,809/mo)
9.3%
$519/mo more in state tax than Allentown
vs 3.07% in Allentown
$4,088/mo
$2,181 less than Allentown
gross of federal tax. a comparison, not a paycheck.
$1796k
400% more expensive than Allentown
vs $359k in Allentown
1.9M
vs 874k in Allentown
field notes, weather & such.
283
pleasant days a year, in san jose.
Allentown barely cracks 157 pleasant ones.
Nights and weekends fill up faster. 2.3× more on the calendar than Allentown.
70/100
4% lower than Allentown
vs 73/100 in Allentown
Closest outdoor draw: Pinnacles National Park, 69.2 mi.
95/100
10% higher than Allentown
vs 86/100 in Allentown
29
222% more than Allentown
vs 9 nonstops in Allentown
neighbors of san jose on the map of tradeoffs:
compare san jose with:
