01 · the cities
Boston
Boston is brick sidewalks, dive bars older than most states, and an accent that turns 'park the car' into a love language. The city is densely packed with colleges (Harvard, MIT, BU, BC, plus 30 more), which keeps it perpetually 22 years old in spirit. The Freedom Trail literally paints a red line through 400 years of American history. Dunkin' is not a chain here, it's a way of life.
full dispatch→Eugene
Eugene is Track Town USA (Hayward Field is the spiritual home of American distance running), the University of Oregon, and a hippie-academic-outdoorsy culture that's been here since the '60s and isn't going anywhere. The Willamette and McKenzie rivers meet just outside town. Saturday Market downtown has been running for over 50 years. Coffee and craft beer are taken seriously. Misty in winter, glorious in summer.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,145/mo
$1,799/mo
$1,346/mo less than Boston (75%)
Median home price
Median home price
$771k
$456k
$315k less than Boston
State income tax
State income tax
5.0%
8.8%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,772/mo
$5,805/mo
Eugene has $1,033/mo more gross after rent at $100k
Gross left after rent reflects state income tax but not federal, based on $100k salary. Enter your salary to find your ideal city.
03 · the weather
Pleasant days/yr
Pleasant days/yr
160 days
206 days
46 more than Boston
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
2 days
2 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
33 days
1 days
days below 20°F per year
Boston drops below 20°F on 32 more days per year than Eugene.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
71 / 100
75 / 100
4.0 pts ahead of Boston
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
103 routes
9 routes
94 fewer direct routes than Boston
Metro size
Metro size
4.9M metro
381k metro
Boston has 6.2x more events per month than Eugene.
the verdict
2
Boston
categories won
6
Eugene
categories won
Eugene leads on money and weather and wins overall.
run your numbers
How far does your Boston salary go?
Enter your salary to see a full ranked list of cities where you would live better.
see your top citiesWe use a proprietary blend of data from the US Census, Zillow, Ticketmaster, and more.
Walk Score® is a trademark of Walk Score, a Redfin company. How Walk Score works