01 · the cities
San Francisco
San Francisco is hills, fog, Mission burritos the size of forearms, and pastel Victorians stacked like dominoes. Karl the Fog has his own Instagram, the cable cars are still mechanically pulled by cables running under the street, and the Pacific shows up at the end of every west-bound avenue. The food is wildly good, the views are theatrical, and yes, you'll get cardio just walking to the corner store.
full dispatch→Boise
Boise is basically Denver before Denver got Denver-y: walkable downtown, foothills you can run into on your lunch break, and a river slicing right through the middle of town. The Basque Block downtown anchors the biggest Basque community in the U.S., which nobody sees coming. The vibe is 'we close our laptops and go outside,' and the trails make that very easy to do. Locals would prefer you didn't tell anyone.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,146/mo
$1,794/mo
$1,352/mo less than San Francisco (75%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.2M
$490k
$748k less than San Francisco
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
5.8%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,412/mo
$6,056/mo
Boise has $1,644/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
312 days
166 days
146 fewer than San Francisco
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
0 days
27 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
24 days
days below 20°F per year
Boise has 27 more days above 95°F each year than San Francisco. Boise drops below 20°F on 24 more days per year than San Francisco.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
83 / 100
82 / 100
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
111 routes
16 routes
95 fewer direct routes than San Francisco
Metro size
Metro size
4.6M metro
827k metro
San Francisco has 6.6x more events per month than Boise.
the verdict
4
San Francisco
categories won
4
Boise
categories won
San Francisco wins on weather and lifestyle, Boise wins on money. Dead even.
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