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→Rochester
Rochester is the city that Kodak and Xerox built, with a quiet college-town soul (UofR, RIT, Eastman School of Music). The Garbage Plate (cheeseburger, mac salad, home fries, hot sauce, on one plate) is the closest thing to a citywide handshake. Frederick Douglass made his home here, and the Susan B. Anthony House is downtown. The Finger Lakes wine country is right next door.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,146/mo
$1,534/mo
$1,612/mo less than San Francisco (105%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.2M
$273k
$965k less than San Francisco
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
5.9%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,412/mo
$6,312/mo
Rochester has $1,900/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
147 days
165 fewer than San Francisco
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
0 days
1 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
48 days
days below 20°F per year
Rochester drops below 20°F on 48 more days per year than San Francisco.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
83 / 100
58 / 100
25.0 pts behind San Francisco
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
111 routes
18 routes
93 fewer direct routes than San Francisco
Metro size
Metro size
4.6M metro
1.1M metro
San Francisco has 8.6x more events per month than Rochester.
the verdict
4
San Francisco
categories won
4
Rochester
categories won
San Francisco wins on weather and lifestyle, Rochester wins on money. Dead even.
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