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→Eugene
Eugene is Track Town USA (Hayward Field is the spiritual home of American distance running), the University of Oregon, and a hippie-academic-outdoorsy culture that's been here since the '60s and isn't going anywhere. The Willamette and McKenzie rivers meet just outside town. Saturday Market downtown has been running for over 50 years. Coffee and craft beer are taken seriously. Misty in winter, glorious in summer.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,146/mo
$1,799/mo
$1,347/mo less than San Francisco (75%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.2M
$456k
$783k less than San Francisco
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
8.8%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,412/mo
$5,805/mo
Eugene has $1,393/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
206 days
106 fewer than San Francisco
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
0 days
2 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
1 days
days below 20°F per year
San Francisco edges ahead on pleasant days, but both cities have comparable comfort overall.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
83 / 100
75 / 100
8.0 pts behind San Francisco
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
111 routes
9 routes
102 fewer direct routes than San Francisco
Metro size
Metro size
4.6M metro
381k metro
San Francisco has 9.6x more events per month than Eugene.
the verdict
3
San Francisco
categories won
4
Eugene
categories won
Eugene wins on money. San Francisco has the edge on weather and lifestyle.
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