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→Toledo
Toledo is the Glass City, with a long history of glassmaking (Owens-Illinois, Libbey, Pilkington), and the Toledo Museum of Art's glass pavilion is genuinely world-class and free. The Mud Hens (yes, Klinger's team) play minor league ball downtown. Sitting between Detroit and Cleveland on Lake Erie, Toledo has serious walleye fishing and a real lake-town pace. Cheaper than its bigger neighbors.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$3,470/mo
$1,197/mo
$2,273/mo less than San Jose (190%)
Median home price
Median home price
$1.8M
$196k
$1.6M 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
$6,804/mo
Toledo has $2,716/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
38 days
days below 20°F per year
San Jose has 19 more days above 95°F each year than Toledo. Toledo drops below 20°F on 38 more days per year than San Jose.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
70 / 100
55 / 100
15.0 pts behind San Jose
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
29 routes
4 routes
25 fewer direct routes than San Jose
Metro size
Metro size
1.9M metro
600k metro
San Jose has 2.5x more events per month than Toledo.
the verdict
4
San Jose
categories won
5
Toledo
categories won
Toledo wins on money. San Jose has the edge on weather and lifestyle.
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