01 · the cities
San Jose
San Jose is Silicon Valley's anchor city, much bigger than San Francisco by population, and culturally underrated because everyone drives through it on the way somewhere else. The Vietnamese food scene (especially in Little Saigon) is one of the best in the country. The weather is impossibly mild, the Santa Cruz Mountains rise to the west, and the tech money funds a genuinely excellent restaurant scene.
full dispatch→Albuquerque
Albuquerque is green chile on everything, the Sandia Mountains turning pink at sunset (the name literally means watermelon), and the Balloon Fiesta in October when 500+ hot air balloons fill the sky. The old town adobes feel like the 1700s, the food fuses Native, Mexican, and Spanish in ways you won't get anywhere else. Breaking Bad fans will recognize half the city, and locals are good-natured about it.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,470/mo
$1,489/mo
$1,981/mo less than San Jose (133%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.8M
$351k
$1.4M less than San Jose
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
5.9%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,088/mo
$6,353/mo
Albuquerque has $2,265/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
283 days
205 days
78 fewer than San Jose
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
19 days
34 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
6 days
days below 20°F per year
Albuquerque has 15 more days above 95°F each year than San Jose. Albuquerque drops below 20°F on 6 more days per year than San Jose.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
70 / 100
81 / 100
11.0 pts ahead of San Jose
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
29 routes
23 routes
6 fewer direct routes than San Jose
Metro size
Metro size
1.9M metro
924k metro
San Jose has 1.5x more events per month than Albuquerque.
the verdict
4
San Jose
categories won
5
Albuquerque
categories won
Albuquerque wins on money. San Jose has the edge on weather.
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