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→Spokane
Spokane is eastern Washington's anchor city, very different from Seattle: drier, sunnier, with the Spokane River tumbling through downtown in actual waterfalls. Riverfront Park (built for the 1974 World's Fair) is the city's living room. Bing Crosby was born here. Mt. Spokane and Coeur d'Alene Lake are nearby. The Bloomsday run every May draws around 40,000 people. Affordable and outdoorsy.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,146/mo
$1,520/mo
$1,626/mo less than San Francisco (107%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.2M
$420k
$819k less than San Francisco
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
0%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,412/mo
$6,813/mo
Spokane has $2,401/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
164 days
148 fewer than San Francisco
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
0 days
6 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
34 days
days below 20°F per year
Spokane has 6 more days above 95°F each year than San Francisco. Spokane drops below 20°F on 34 more days per year than San Francisco.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
83 / 100
81 / 100
2.0 pts behind San Francisco
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
111 routes
10 routes
101 fewer direct routes than San Francisco
Metro size
Metro size
4.6M metro
600k metro
San Francisco has 7.0x more events per month than Spokane.
the verdict
5
San Francisco
categories won
4
Spokane
categories won
San Francisco wins on weather and lifestyle. Spokane has the edge on money.
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