01 · the cities
Oxnard
Oxnard is California's strawberry capital, where the fields literally run up to the beach. Channel Islands Harbor is a quiet alternative to the busier Ventura and Santa Barbara, with great seafood and a chill Mexican food scene. The weather is the perfect 65-and-overcast that locals call 'June gloom' for most of summer. The Channel Islands themselves are a ferry ride away.
full dispatch→Providence
Providence is what a college town looks like wearing a former industrial capital's old leather jacket. Brown and RISD pour creatives in by the thousand, Federal Hill has been feeding them red sauce since forever, and on summer nights WaterFire literally lights bonfires up and down the river. It's cheap enough that Boston refugees actually stay. The state capitol has the fourth-largest self-supporting marble dome in the world, and you'll be told within an hour of arrival.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$2,995/mo
$2,127/mo
$868/mo less than Oxnard (41%)
Median home price
Median home price
$923k
$528k
$395k less than Oxnard
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
6.0%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,563/mo
$5,707/mo
Providence has $1,144/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
342 days
159 days
183 fewer than Oxnard
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
0 days
1 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
35 days
days below 20°F per year
Providence drops below 20°F on 35 more days per year than Oxnard.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
74 / 100
63 / 100
11.0 pts behind Oxnard
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
0 routes
17 routes
17 more direct routes than Oxnard
Metro size
Metro size
830k metro
1.7M metro
Oxnard has 1.1x more events per month than Providence.
the verdict
3
Oxnard
categories won
5
Providence
categories won
Providence wins on money. Oxnard has the edge on weather.
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