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→Hagerstown
Hagerstown is the Hub City of western Maryland, where rail lines and highways converge in the Cumberland Valley. The downtown has a small but charming historic core. Antietam Battlefield is 30 minutes south, with some of the most affecting Civil War landscape in the country. The Appalachian Trail crosses just to the west. Quiet, with serious history nearby.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,470/mo
$1,587/mo
$1,883/mo less than San Jose (119%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.8M
$321k
$1.5M less than San Jose
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
8.2%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,088/mo
$6,063/mo
Hagerstown has $1,975/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
160 days
123 fewer than San Jose
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
19 days
6 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
24 days
days below 20°F per year
San Jose has 13 more days above 95°F each year than Hagerstown. Hagerstown drops below 20°F on 24 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
2 routes
27 fewer direct routes than San Jose
Metro size
Metro size
1.9M metro
305k metro
San Jose has 3.4x more events per month than Hagerstown.
the verdict
4
San Jose
categories won
5
Hagerstown
categories won
Hagerstown wins on money. San Jose has the edge on weather and lifestyle.
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