Why San Jose Remains an Attractive Place to Live
A silicon capital between the Pacific and the San Francisco Bay, San Jose is one of the most coveted addresses on the West Coast. The South Bay city is the third largest in California and the 13th largest in the U.S., but the tech hub of nearly 1 million did lose a sizeable portion of its population post-pandemic. Nevertheless, the gorgeous landscape surrounding San Jose — and its ever-promising job market — still holds enormous staying power if you have the buying power to afford it.
Real estate across Silicon Valley has skyrocketed over the last decade, and the median home value in San Jose now conservatively exceeds $1.1 million. But income levels in the sunny city are also nearly twice the national average, better positioning buyers and renters across the Bay Area.
San Jose’s agricultural roots and mining reserves helped fuel the 21st-century goldmine that is the tech industry. More than a quarter of all jobs in the city are in professional & business services. Companies like Adobe and Cisco have made San Jose a star on the global commerce map. But one of San Jose’s oldest strongholds — manufacturing — remains an employment stalwart even today. The region’s educational institutions further strengthen the cultural ecology of Silicon Valley, including San Jose State University and Stanford University in neighboring Palo Alto.
The ethnic diversity in San Jose makes it an exciting place to live and visit, with great international restaurants, festivals and enriching museums. The proximity to San Francisco, Santa Cruz and dreamy Sonoma only adds to its sophisticated but laid-back vibe. And when the screen-centric work culture feels depleting, it’s easy to escape into the outdoors. Redwood forests, cliff-lined beaches and even national parks are all a stone’s throw from this Cali metro.
If you’re looking for a career-centric, West Coast city surrounded by natural wonders, consider moving to San Jose, California. Learn more below about the Capital of Silicon Valley, from the biggest companies in the area to the climate, demographics, transportation and housing market.
San Jose’s Climate is Pleasant Year-Round
With mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, San Jose residents are treated to a pleasant Mediterranean climate. This makes it easy to get outdoors all year round, hiking in the state parks or taking the day off to go fishing.
San Jose receives surprisingly little rain throughout the year — a couple of inches less than Bakersfield and nearly ten inches less than nearby San Francisco. Most of the 13.5” rain that falls in San Jose does so in the winter months, leaving around 300 sunny days the rest of the year in this South Bay city.
Temperatures rarely fall below freezing for long in San Jose, and the average low from December to February is still over 40°F, so it’s unlikely you’ll see snow within city limits. The average daytime temp is in the 50s, and annually, the average is only 60 degrees. In the summertime, the average high is just above 80°F, though it’s not unheard of to see the mercury spike over 90°F or even 100°F here over the last 10 years, thanks to climate change.
San Jose Has a Strong Education System
There is a reason that education is San Jose’s second-largest industry sector — there are so many notable institutions in the region. San Jose State University makes its home in the city proper, and this well-regarded public university is known for its undergraduate engineering program and as one of the best schools for veterans.
Elsewhere in the region, you’ll find Santa Clara University, Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, along with many community colleges and small private schools.
San Jose Is a Good Place to Start Career and Build Your Career
One of the world’s foremost technological and research hubs, San Jose is part of the business-centric South Bay area, where the nonfarm civilian workforce has nearly 1.2 million individuals within it. Nearly a quarter of workers in this Silicon Valley city work in professional and business services, which grew by 2% between September of 2023 and 2024. Education and health services employ more than 200,000 workers, and it has expanded by almost 5% over the last 12 months. Manufacturing is the region’s third-largest industry, and although it has contracted 3% since September of 2024, it fared better than the Information sector, which lost 7% of its workforce during the same timeframe, as did many cities with a prominent tech force.
Despite these isolated losses, the city’s job market was strong. San Jose’s unemployment rate sat at 4.3% in September 2024, rising just above the U.S. average of 3.9%.
Santa Clara County — which encompasses areas like Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto and Gilroy — is tech-central, but retail, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing companies create a diverse business profile for the region. Adobe, Cisco and eBay are all based in San Jose, while Alphabet, Apple, HP, Intel, NASA and Lockheed Martin are based in neighboring cities.
San Jose Is a Very Diverse City
San Jose is a prosperous and ethnically diverse city. 38% of the population identifies as Asian, 31% as Hispanic or Latino, 30% as white, 12% as two or more races, 3% as Black or African American, 1% as American Indian or Alaska Native and 0.5% as Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander.
This cultural depth is celebrated in many of the city’s most beloved annual events, from the San Jose Greek Festival to the Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival to Viva Fest: Mexican Heritage & Mariachi Festival.
Each August, Silicon Valley Pride brings two days of festivities to Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park and a week of fun events leading up to the parade, including a Pride edition of the Pobladores Night Market, Drag Trivia Night and the Drag Cooking Show at the AC Hotel.
In the springtime, you’ll have the Nikkei Matsuri Festival to look forward to. Amazing food, demonstrations of Shindō-Jinen Ryū karate and judo, Kabuki performances, traditional dances like Awa Odori and taiko drumming are just some of the highlights of this annual event that brings thousands of visitors to Japantown.
San Jose Calls for Natural Adventures
One of the things that makes this urban tech hub so enormously appealing is the natural surroundings — the San Francisco Bay, the towering redwoods, and the mountain views. Big Basin Redwoods State Park and oceanside hamlets like Half Moon Bay are less than an hour away, as are the beaches and mountain retreats of Santa Cruz. But there are plenty of nearby spots to check out when you don’t have time for a drive.
Castle Rock State Park is an enchanting hiking spot west of the city where grassy slopes yield to mossy oaks and protective knobcone pines. The time-sculpted sandstone is one of the main draws in this forest — the boulders can seem like benevolent, gnarly creatures that beg your imaginations to run wild. Rock climbing, horseback riding and hiking are all allowed here.
If you want to catch the best of Santa Clara’s wildflowers in the springtime, head to Almaden Quicksilver County Park. This former mining area has miles of trails, many of which are popular with mountain bikers. The park’s two reservoirs are beautiful, but neither boating nor swimming are permitted in the waters.
Alum Rock Park was founded way back in 1872 on the city’s eastern edge, and its 720 acres are a favorite for picnicking and play. Because the park is also a nature preserve, dogs are not permitted here, so you’ll have to leave your disappointed pup at home when you visit. The Youth Science Institute maintains a nature center in the park, which makes it easy to learn about the native birds and mammals that call Alum Park home.
When you’re up for a longer adventure, some of the most astounding spots in the country are just a few hours away — Yosemite National Park, Death Valley, and Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Park are all worth a road trip.
Explore the area’s natural wonders in our National Parks of the West Coast guide.
It’s a Hub of Creativity
San Jose has a wealth of cultural attractions to visit, from kid-centric hotspots like the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose to historic marvels like the Winchester Mystery House.
Art and design aficionados will enjoy the South First Fridays Art Walk and the Street Mrkt event in the SoFA District, where you can see what’s on view in local galleries, meet the artists and buy cool and usual things from ceramic leaf magnets to handmade dolls to original photography. The San Jose Museum of Art is in the heart of SoFA, and the Institute of Contemporary Art San Jose and the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles are located southeast of San Carlos. West of downtown, a block from the Municipal Rose Garden, you can see more ancient treasures at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum.
Not many cities have multiple museums focused on technology, but this Silicon Valley city has several. The Tech Interactive (formerly the Tech Museum of Innovation) is an extraordinary science center downtown that will wow kiddos with the BioDesign Studio, the Animaker and the Body Worlds Decoded exhibits. The Computer History Museum is fun for older kids and adults alike, telling the 2,000-year+ story of computing and giving visitors a try at coding to make their own software.
It’s a Food Lover’s Paradise
After all that hiking and museum-hopping, you’ll undoubtedly need some refreshment, and San Jose is no less a star in this arena. Drawing on its cultural depth and California’s homegrown agricultural wealth, San Jose offers an array of farm-to-table and international fare.
You can get a taste of everything under one roof at the San Pedro Square Market. This one-stop shop has a tequileria, a burger joint, a noodle house and almost anything else you can think of. Feel free to continent-hop between Master Shin Korean Plate, Jora Peruvian Food, Pasta Fresca and Suerte, a contemporary Mexican eatery.
San Jose’s Little Saigon neighborhood will treat you to authentic Vietnamese flavors, from pho to curry. The Grand Century shopping mall is a popular place to shop and dine in the area, and you can stop in Com Tam Sai Gon for its chao tom or head across the street to the Green Lotus for their Ca Ri Vang, a vegetarian pumpkin curry with taro and tofu.
San Jose also shines in Portuguese flavors, which you can immerse yourself in at Petiscos. This sophisticated, casual downtown eatery offers the same inventive cooking as the proprietor’s upscale establishment, Adega, but it offers more everyday dishes, like steak sandwiches, cuttlefish tempura and a pork & clam skillet so comforting it will make you wish it was always below 50 degrees outside.
Just a couple blocks from the SAP Center, Henry’s Hi-Life has been the standard-bearer of standard American cuisine since 1960. One of the nation’s last remaining casual steak joints, all your favorites are always on the menu — T-bones, pork chops and prime rib dinners. Yes, they all come with a baked potato, garlic bread and a salad.
If you’re more in the mood for Korean fried chicken, head to Danbi, where you can order it spicy or soy glazed. Of course, the other house specialties are just as good here, from the seafood ramen to the kimchi dol sot.
Moving to San Jose: Challenges to Weigh in
San Jose’s Cost of Living is High
San Jose is one of the most expensive cities in the country to live in. According to the U.S. Census, between 2018-22, the median home value in the Bay Area city averaged $1.1 million — a figure more than four times the national average. The National Association of Realtors puts that figure even higher, with the median home price topping $2 million in 2024.
Renters are also getting squeezed. You can expect to pay $2,526/mo on average in San Jose — steep even by Silicon Valley standards. And other common household living expenses don’t come cheap, either. Households spend an average of $86,000 annually on food, housing, clothing, transportation, healthcare, personal insurance/pensions and other miscellaneous expenses. California also has relatively high taxes, especially on personal income.
However, earning levels in this city far exceed the national average. The median household income in San Jose is $136,010 — that’s $60,000 higher than the national average. Poverty levels in the city are also far lower than elsewhere in the nation, with fewer than 8% of residents living below the poverty line.
Commuting in San Jose is No Joke
The Bay Area is known for many wonderful things, but one of them is not short commutes. The average travel time to work is nearly 29 minutes, about average for traffic-heavy California, but several minutes slower than the national average. And if you’re commuting during rush hour in the South Bay, you can add an extra seven minutes to your morning drive time and an extra 10 in the evening.
91% of commuters still use their cars to get to and from work, but if you want to commute the sustainable way, the VTA (Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority) offers three lines of light rail service along with local, rapid and express bus services and shuttles.
One of the big benefits of living in Silicon Valley is the number of regional airports. San Jose (SJC), San Francisco (SFO), Oakland (OAK) and the Sonoma County Airport (STS) can easily connect you with cities around the world.
Move to San Jose with United Van Lines — America’s #1 Mover®
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