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→Austin
Austin runs on breakfast tacos, live music, and a stubborn streak of weirdness that the tech boom hasn't fully smoothed over. The east side reinvents itself every few years and still has the vinyl shops, vintage western wear, and honky-tonks to prove it. Barton Springs holds 68°F year-round and locals plan their summers around it. There's a swimming hole, a taco truck, or a guitar within five blocks of wherever you're standing.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,470/mo
$1,583/mo
$1,887/mo less than San Jose (119%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.8M
$433k
$1.4M less than San Jose
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
0%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,088/mo
$6,750/mo
Austin has $2,662/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
170 days
113 fewer than San Jose
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
19 days
53 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
1 days
days below 20°F per year
Austin has 34 more days above 95°F each 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
42 routes
13 more direct routes than San Jose
Metro size
Metro size
1.9M metro
2.5M metro
San Jose has 1.9x fewer events per month than Austin.
the verdict
3
San Jose
categories won
5
Austin
categories won
Austin wins on money. San Jose has the edge on weather.
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