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→Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor is the University of Michigan, with the Big House (Michigan Stadium) holding over 107,000 people on football Saturdays, making it briefly the third-largest city in Michigan. Downtown is tree-lined brick streets, great independent bookstores, and a food scene with strong Middle Eastern and Korean energy. Zingerman's Deli is a national pilgrimage. The Huron River runs through. College town energy at its best.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,470/mo
$2,082/mo
$1,388/mo less than San Jose (67%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.8M
$429k
$1.4M less than San Jose
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
4.3%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,088/mo
$5,897/mo
Ann Arbor has $1,809/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
154 days
129 fewer than San Jose
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
19 days
0 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
51 days
days below 20°F per year
San Jose has 19 more days above 95°F each year than Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor drops below 20°F on 51 more days per year than San Jose.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
70 / 100
56 / 100
14.0 pts behind San Jose
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
29 routes
135 routes
106 more direct routes than San Jose
Metro size
Metro size
1.9M metro
366k metro
San Jose has 4.4x more events per month than Ann Arbor.
the verdict
3
San Jose
categories won
6
Ann Arbor
categories won
Ann Arbor wins on money. San Jose has the edge on weather.
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