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→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
$3,146/mo
$1,473/mo
$1,673/mo less than San Francisco (114%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.2M
$231k
$1.0M less than San Francisco
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
0%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,412/mo
$6,860/mo
El Paso has $2,448/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
222 days
90 fewer than San Francisco
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
0 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 60 more days above 95°F each year than San Francisco.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
83 / 100
65 / 100
18.0 pts behind San Francisco
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
111 routes
13 routes
98 fewer direct routes than San Francisco
Metro size
Metro size
4.6M metro
872k metro
San Francisco has 8.6x more events per month than El Paso.
the verdict
4
San Francisco
categories won
4
El Paso
categories won
San Francisco wins on weather and lifestyle, El Paso wins on money. Dead even.
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