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

Lancaster

Lancaster is the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country, with horse-drawn buggies on rural roads and the Central Market (the oldest continuously operating farmers market in the country, since the 1730s). The food scene is sneaky-strong, the surrounding farmland is gorgeous, and the city's downtown has come back nicely. Whoopie pies, shoofly pies, and sticky buns are mandatory.

full dispatch

02 · the money

Median rent

$3,146/mo

$1,517/mo

$1,629/mo less than San Francisco (107%)

Median home price

$1.2M

$384k

$855k less than San Francisco

State income tax

9.3%

3.1%

Gross left after rent

$4,412/mo

$6,561/mo

Lancaster has $2,149/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

158 days

154 fewer than San Francisco

Extreme heat days

0 days

3 days

days above 95°F per year

Extreme cold days

0 days

25 days

days below 20°F per year

Lancaster drops below 20°F on 25 more days per year than San Francisco.

04 · the life

OutdoorScore

83 / 100

63 / 100

20.0 pts behind San Francisco

Walk Score®

99 / 100

97 / 100

Nonstop flights

111 routes

1 routes

110 fewer direct routes than San Francisco

Metro size

4.6M metro

559k metro

San Francisco has 17.2x more events per month than Lancaster.

the verdict

4

San Francisco

categories won

of 9

4

Lancaster

categories won

San Francisco wins on weather and lifestyle, Lancaster 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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