$100k a year, no longer in Riverside

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Sarasota, FL cityscape

if you left riverside

Sarasota

fl · metro 262k

photo: Jeffrey Eisen / pexels

a dispatch from

sarasota

FL

27.34°N

82.54°W

Sarasota is the home of the Ringling Brothers Circus (the museum is wild, and yes, there's a vintage clown college history), and Siesta Key's beach is regularly named the best in America for its pure quartz sand. The cultural scene is heavy for a Florida city of its size (theater, opera, art museum). Gulf sunsets here are the brochure shot. The food scene has caught up to the city's wealth and the retirees' time.

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01 · the verdict

the verdict

$1,147

under Riverside, every month

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

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$2,121/mo

15% cheaper than Riverside(vs $2,493/mo)

02state income tax

0%

$775/mo less in state tax than Riverside

vs 9.3% in Riverside

03after rent

$6,212/mo

$1,147 more than Riverside

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

04a house here

$423k

29% cheaper than Riverside

vs $595k in Riverside

05metro size

262k

vs 4.7M in Riverside

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

249

pleasant days a year, in sarasota.

Riverside only logs 249 pleasant days.

But the calendar thins out: Riverside stays 2.0× busier.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

59/100

14% lower than Riverside

vs 69/100 in Riverside

Closest outdoor draw: Myakka River State Park, 15.9 mi.

·walk score®

96/100

4% higher than Riverside

vs 92/100 in Riverside

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

6

57% fewer than Riverside

vs 14 nonstops in Riverside

04 · see also

neighbors of sarasota on the map of tradeoffs:

see also

myrtle beach

more flight options

turn the page

see also

wilmington

$71/mo cheaper

turn the page

see also

pensacola

$369/mo cheaper

turn the page

compare sarasota with:

Myrtle BeachWilmingtonPensacola