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→Rochester
Rochester is the city that Kodak and Xerox built, with a quiet college-town soul (UofR, RIT, Eastman School of Music). The Garbage Plate (cheeseburger, mac salad, home fries, hot sauce, on one plate) is the closest thing to a citywide handshake. Frederick Douglass made his home here, and the Susan B. Anthony House is downtown. The Finger Lakes wine country is right next door.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,470/mo
$1,534/mo
$1,936/mo less than San Jose (126%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.8M
$273k
$1.5M less than San Jose
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
5.9%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,088/mo
$6,312/mo
Rochester has $2,224/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
147 days
136 fewer than San Jose
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
19 days
1 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
48 days
days below 20°F per year
San Jose has 18 more days above 95°F each year than Rochester. Rochester drops below 20°F on 48 more days per year than San Jose.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
70 / 100
58 / 100
12.0 pts behind San Jose
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
29 routes
18 routes
11 fewer direct routes than San Jose
Metro size
Metro size
1.9M metro
1.1M metro
San Jose has 2.1x more events per month than Rochester.
the verdict
4
San Jose
categories won
5
Rochester
categories won
Rochester wins on money. San Jose has the edge on weather and lifestyle.
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