01 · the cities
Miami
Miami is Spanish before it's English, salsa before it's small talk, and a cortadito before it's a coffee. South Beach Art Deco glows pink at night, Wynwood is a city-sized mural, and the Cuban sandwiches in Little Havana could end fights. Summer is bath-warm ocean and ceiling fans turned up high, and October feels like everywhere else's perfect August. Bring linen.
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
$2,665/mo
$1,645/mo
$1,020/mo less than Miami (62%)
Median home price
Median home price
$565k
$317k
$248k less than Miami
State income tax
State income tax
0%
0%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$5,668/mo
$6,688/mo
Gainesville has $1,020/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
272 days
206 days
66 fewer than Miami
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 Miami.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
77 / 100
63 / 100
14.0 pts behind Miami
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
167 routes
5 routes
162 fewer direct routes than Miami
Metro size
Metro size
6.2M metro
350k metro
Miami has 328.7x more events per month than Gainesville.
the verdict
4
Miami
categories won
3
Gainesville
categories won
Miami wins on weather and lifestyle. Gainesville has the edge on money.
run your numbers
How far does your Miami 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