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→Spartanburg
Spartanburg is the Upstate of South Carolina, with rolling foothills, peach orchards (yes, South Carolina actually grows more peaches than Georgia in some years), and the largest BMW manufacturing plant in the world just outside town. The downtown's been revitalizing with breweries and restaurants. Wofford and Converse keep college energy in town. The Blue Ridge is right there.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,470/mo
$1,434/mo
$2,036/mo less than San Jose (142%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.8M
$277k
$1.5M less than San Jose
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
6.5%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,088/mo
$6,358/mo
Spartanburg has $2,270/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
191 days
92 fewer than San Jose
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
19 days
16 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
4 days
days below 20°F per year
San Jose edges ahead on pleasant days, but both cities have comparable comfort overall.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
70 / 100
68 / 100
2.0 pts behind San Jose
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
29 routes
20 routes
9 fewer direct routes than San Jose
Metro size
Metro size
1.9M metro
383k metro
San Jose has 4.1x more events per month than Spartanburg.
the verdict
3
San Jose
categories won
4
Spartanburg
categories won
Spartanburg wins on money. San Jose has the edge on weather and lifestyle.
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