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→Indianapolis
Indianapolis circles its downtown with a literal loop (the Mile Square) and hosts the Indy 500 every Memorial Day weekend like clockwork. Basketball is woven into the state DNA (Hoosiers, the movie, is essentially a documentary). The Cultural Trail connects six districts on bike-friendly paths through the heart of downtown. The food scene has quietly leveled up.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,470/mo
$1,511/mo
$1,959/mo less than San Jose (130%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.8M
$296k
$1.5M less than San Jose
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
3.0%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,088/mo
$6,572/mo
Indianapolis has $2,484/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
174 days
109 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
30 days
days below 20°F per year
San Jose has 19 more days above 95°F each year than Indianapolis. Indianapolis drops below 20°F on 30 more days per year than San Jose.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
70 / 100
62 / 100
8.0 pts behind San Jose
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
29 routes
35 routes
6 more direct routes than San Jose
Metro size
Metro size
1.9M metro
2.1M metro
San Jose has 1.4x fewer events per month than Indianapolis.
the verdict
3
San Jose
categories won
6
Indianapolis
categories won
Indianapolis wins on money. San Jose has the edge on weather.
run your numbers
How far does your San Jose salary go?
Enter your salary to see a full ranked list of cities where you would live better.
see your top citiesWe use a proprietary blend of data from the US Census, Zillow, Ticketmaster, and more.
Walk Score® is a trademark of Walk Score, a Redfin company. How Walk Score works