01 · the cities
Gainesville
Gainesville is the University of Florida, the Gators, and a college town with serious natural assets: 30+ named springs within an hour's drive, including Ginnie, Devil's Den, and Ichetucknee for tubing. The food scene is solid and cheap (it's still a college town), and downtown's grown up with breweries and music venues. Surrounded by oak forests and prairie. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers got their start here.
full dispatch→El Paso
El Paso has the Franklin Mountains running right through the middle of the city (which is rare), with hiking trails inside city limits and the desert wide open just past the suburbs. The Mexican food is exceptional in ways that the rest of Texas doesn't quite match (it's true regional border food). Ciudad Juarez is literally next door across the Rio Grande. The light at sunset is unreal.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$1,645/mo
$1,473/mo
$172/mo less than Gainesville (12%)
Median home price
Median home price
$317k
$231k
$85k less than Gainesville
State income tax
State income tax
0%
0%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$6,688/mo
$6,860/mo
El Paso has $172/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
206 days
222 days
16 more than Gainesville
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
17 days
60 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
1 days
days below 20°F per year
El Paso has 43 more days above 95°F each year than Gainesville.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
63 / 100
65 / 100
2.0 pts ahead of Gainesville
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
5 routes
13 routes
8 more direct routes than Gainesville
Metro size
Metro size
350k metro
872k metro
Gainesville has 10.0x fewer events per month than El Paso.
the verdict
1
Gainesville
categories won
6
El Paso
categories won
El Paso wins this comparison, leading on money and lifestyle.
run your numbers
How far does your Gainesville 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