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

Lakeland

Lakeland has the largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world, on the Florida Southern College campus (designed in the 1940s, all skylights and copper). The city sits between Tampa and Orlando, with actual swans patrolling its namesake downtown lake (the city even has a swan management program). Publix is headquartered here, which Floridians treat as a point of pride.

full dispatch

02 · the money

Median rent

$3,146/mo

$1,834/mo

$1,312/mo less than San Francisco (72%)

Median home price

$1.2M

$301k

$938k less than San Francisco

State income tax

9.3%

0%

Gross left after rent

$4,412/mo

$6,499/mo

Lakeland has $2,087/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

206 days

106 fewer than San Francisco

Extreme heat days

0 days

13 days

days above 95°F per year

Extreme cold days

0 days

0 days

days below 20°F per year

Lakeland has 13 more days above 95°F each year than San Francisco.

04 · the life

OutdoorScore

83 / 100

48 / 100

35.0 pts behind San Francisco

Walk Score®

99 / 100

66 / 100

33 pts behind San Francisco

Nonstop flights

111 routes

68 routes

43 fewer direct routes than San Francisco

Metro size

4.6M metro

818k metro

San Francisco has 21.5x more events per month than Lakeland.

the verdict

4

San Francisco

categories won

of 9

4

Lakeland

categories won

San Francisco wins on weather and lifestyle, Lakeland 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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