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→Cleveland
Cleveland is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the West Side Market's 100+ years of pierogies and bratwurst, and Lake Erie sunsets that put the coastal hype to shame. The Cuyahoga River caught fire so many times it inspired the Clean Water Act. The Cleveland Orchestra is consistently ranked among the world's best. Summers on the lake are gorgeous, and the food scene is having a real moment.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,470/mo
$1,419/mo
$2,051/mo less than San Jose (145%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.8M
$252k
$1.5M less than San Jose
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
4.0%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,088/mo
$6,582/mo
Cleveland has $2,494/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
159 days
124 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
27 days
days below 20°F per year
San Jose has 19 more days above 95°F each year than Cleveland. Cleveland drops below 20°F on 27 more days per year than San Jose.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
70 / 100
63 / 100
7.0 pts behind San Jose
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
29 routes
56 routes
27 more direct routes than San Jose
Metro size
Metro size
1.9M metro
2.2M metro
San Jose has 1.4x fewer events per month than Cleveland.
the verdict
3
San Jose
categories won
6
Cleveland
categories won
Cleveland wins on money. San Jose has the edge on weather.
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