01 · the cities
Honolulu
Honolulu is Waikiki's high-rises pressed against turquoise water, Diamond Head crater glowing pink at dawn, and plate lunches that mix Hawaiian, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, and Portuguese into one perfect styrofoam container. Surf the south shore in summer, the north in winter. The North Shore is a 45-minute drive into a totally different world. Aloha here is a way of moving through the day.
full dispatch→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→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$2,843/mo
$1,645/mo
$1,198/mo less than Honolulu (73%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.1M
$317k
$745k less than Honolulu
State income tax
State income tax
11.0%
0%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,574/mo
$6,688/mo
Gainesville has $2,114/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
316 days
206 days
110 fewer than Honolulu
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
0 days
17 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
0 days
days below 20°F per year
Gainesville has 17 more days above 95°F each year than Honolulu.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
55 / 100
63 / 100
8.0 pts ahead of Honolulu
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
51 routes
5 routes
46 fewer direct routes than Honolulu
Metro size
Metro size
989k metro
350k metro
Honolulu has 31.7x more events per month than Gainesville.
the verdict
3
Honolulu
categories won
5
Gainesville
categories won
Gainesville wins on money. Honolulu has the edge on weather.
run your numbers
How far does your Honolulu 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