landable/cost of living comparison
vs

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

Kingsport

Kingsport is a planned 'model city' built by the Eastman Chemical Company in the early 1900s, with a downtown laid out in deliberate grids and the company still dominating the local economy. It's in the Tri-Cities area (with Bristol and Johnson City), tucked into the Appalachian foothills. Bays Mountain Park and the South Fork Holston River give it strong outdoor access. Quietly orderly.

full dispatch

02 · the money

Median rent

$3,146/mo

$1,383/mo

$1,763/mo less than San Francisco (127%)

Median home price

$1.2M

$244k

$995k less than San Francisco

State income tax

9.3%

0%

Gross left after rent

$4,412/mo

$6,950/mo

Kingsport has $2,538/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

312 days

188 days

124 fewer than San Francisco

Extreme heat days

0 days

1 days

days above 95°F per year

Extreme cold days

0 days

15 days

days below 20°F per year

Kingsport drops below 20°F on 15 more days per year than San Francisco.

04 · the life

OutdoorScore

83 / 100

59 / 100

24.0 pts behind San Francisco

Walk Score®

99 / 100

74 / 100

25 pts behind San Francisco

Nonstop flights

111 routes

4 routes

107 fewer direct routes than San Francisco

Metro size

4.6M metro

312k metro

San Francisco has 32.3x more events per month than Kingsport.

the verdict

4

San Francisco

categories won

of 9

4

Kingsport

categories won

San Francisco wins on weather and lifestyle, Kingsport wins on money. Dead even.

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We use a proprietary blend of data from the US Census, Zillow, Ticketmaster, and more.

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