Moving to San Jose is something many people do every year for a variety of reasons like jobs, school, and the weather. We did some research and created this article to help you make your decision, if you are thinking of moving there too. How big is San Jose? San Jose has a little over one million people, which makes it the third-largest city in California and the biggest in Northern California. In California, only LA and San Diego have more people. Most of the residents are white, followed by Hispanics and then Asians of various nationalities like Vietnamese, Chinese and Filipino. African-Americans are about 3% of the total population. How much is housing? The median home price in San Jose is approximately $1 million and the average apartment rent is $2800. If you are fortunate, you might find a small condo for less than $400,000, or a studio apartment for less than $2000. There may be some shared living situations for around $1000. Moving to San Jose might be a viable option if you are prepared for the cost of living, and have a good reason to be there. The cheapest permanent housing choice would be buying a mobile home if that is something you are open to, but some are not. In this case, you might be able to find something for less than $200,000. There are homes for less than $1 million in places south of San Jose like Morgan Hill, and Gilroy but if you live there you will have to spend time commuting and San Jose traffic can be very dense. So, if you tolerate a lot of commute congestion well, these areas might be on the table. How is the weather? The average high temperatures in San Jose range from 60 in winter to 84 in summer. The lows are about 42 to 58 during the same reasons. The record high is 114 and the low is 19 — both are Fahrenheit. The average annual rainfall is 15 inches — for comparison, Seattle’s is 37 inches, and Chicago’s is 36. Moving to San Jose is something that a warm and sometimes hot weather person would enjoy probably — especially if you like less humidity. What kind of jobs are there? San Jose is considered by some to be the capital of Silicon Valley, so technology companies abound. Some of the top employers are: Cisco Systems City of San Jose eBay San Jose State University County of Santa Clara USPS Western Digital IBM San Jose Unified School District Kaiser Permanente Good Samaritan Hospital Adobe Target Cadence Design Systems Are there parks? San Jose is known for having a highly-rated park system, some of the parks are: Almaden Quicksilver County Park Alum Rock Park Plaza de César Chávez Raging Waters Rosicrucian Park Emma Prusch Farm Park Field Sports Park Kelley Park Martial Cottle Park Overfelt Gardens. How is the food? San Jose is a diverse and very large California city, so you might expect to find quite a number of options for cuisine — and you would be correct. Here are some of the top-rated restaurants: The Table Luna Mexican Kitchen SEIKI Ramen TeaZer Firehouse No.1 Gastropub Our House Back A Yard Danbi Korean Restaurant 1621 Bistro KoJa Kitchen Red Chili Teriyaki Dude TAOB Pit Stop Claw Shack Lalla Grill ADEGA Restaurant Pho Dao Restaurant Sizzle Spot Dish n Dash Poke Paradise Diwan Al Falafel Bar Bay Grill Ludwigs German Table The City Fish Bonchon Chicken HOM Korean Kitchen Hometown Noodle Vn Grill Asian Box The Grandview Restaurant Hokkaido Ramen Santouka Yummi Tea Cafe Cubamex Paesano Ristorante Italiano The Breakfast Club Cali Spartan Mexican Kitchen Masa Rameon Chavelas The Creek Eatery Le Papillon Jubba Restaurant Tasty Pot Bertucelli’s La Villa Poki Bowl Chez Sovan Of course, with such a large population, there are going to be many grocery stores and here are some of them: Zanotto’s Family Market Trader Joe’s New Season’s Market Safeway Whole Foods Market International Food Bazaar Grocery Outlet Bargain Market FoodMaxx Zanotto’s Willow Glen Marketing Dai Thanh Supermarket Arteaga’s Food Center Laredo Market Mitsuwa Marketplace Real Produce Sprouts Lunardi’s Markets Hmart Whole Foods Market Nob Hill Foods Safeway Diridon Market Bacalhau Grill & Trade Rite Market Mi Pueblo Food Center Lion Supermarket Alum Rock Village Farmers Market 99 Ranch Lucky How are the schools? The public schools in San Jose are rated 7/10 according to Great Schools. For adults, there are many colleges and universities available such as: Evergreen Valley College San Jose State University The National Hispanic University San Jose City College Santa Clara University Heald College San Jose Mission College University of Phoenix Bay Area. Is there access to nature? As noted in the parks section, the city has many parks and there are quite a few places within easy driving distance one may enjoy very much. For example, Half Moon Bay, which is a small, quiet community on the Pacific Coast, is only 40 miles away. One of the more impressive state parks outside the city is Henry Coe, which is about a 34-mile drive. It is the largest park in Northern California. Even closer is Big Basin Redwood Forest which has many very tall redwood trees and extends all the way to coast, Scotts Valley and Santa Cruz. The entire coastal area extending from Santa Cruz north of Half Moon Bay is known for is beauty and open spaces. Of course, if you drive south of Santa Cruz, it won’t be too long before you wind up in Monterey and Carmel — and Big Sur is just south of them. If you are in the mood to drive for about 3.5 hours, you can go east and a little north and wind up in Yosemite National Park, a place visited by millions each year. Moving to San Jose would most likely work for a person who prefers a blend of urban culture and open spaces within driving distance. How is the transportation? San Jose has its own airport, so you can fly to many places domestically and some internationally. For example, there are regular flights to American cities and Hawaii. Some destinations in Europe and Asia are also available. San Jose has a light rail system you can ride to various stations within San Jose, and it connects with Santa Clara and Mountain View. The local freeways and highways can become very congested during peak periods, so having light rail is an advantage for San Jose. Additionally, there is supposed to be a BART station not too far from San Jose opening in late 2017 or 2018. This location is also where a VTA light rail station is, so BART riders can get off their trains, and connect to VTA so they can ride into downtown San Jose, and may proceed all the way to South San Jose. Moving to San Jose is a probably a viable option for a person who wants to ride public station. Of course, San Jose also has a local bus system and in some locations, it connects with light rail. What about entertainment? San Jose has many places where you can enjoy live music in very large crowds with big names, or in much smaller venues with local or less known acts. Here is just a sample of the places you might visit: SAP Center Cafe Stritch California Theatre El Jardin Tequila Bar & Restaurant 55 South San Pedro Square Market Poor House Bistro San Pedro Square Market Bar O’Flaherty’s Irish Pub City National Civic of San Jose There are also many movie theaters like: Century 20 Oakridge CineArts Cinelux Almaden Cinema AMC Cupertino Square 16 Camera 3 Cinema AMC Eastridge 15 AMC Saratoga 14 West Wind Capitol 6 Drive-in Cinebrew mart San Jose Camera Cinema Club. San Jose also has its own opera and a symphony if you prefer classical music. If you like live theater, there are various venues such as: City Lights The San Jose Stage Company Theatre on San Pedro Square Broadway San Jose Northside Theatre Company Montgomery Theater Renegade Theatre Experiment San Jose Center for the Performing Arts You might expect that living in a California city might mean some cultural deprivation, but moving to San Jose might exceed your expectations. Are there places or worship? Yes, there are many and of a variety of religions and denominations — San Jose is a large city and it is diverse, so you may find something suitable. Here are some of the options: Christian or Catholic churches West Gate – Saratoga South Bay Church Vive Church Awakening Church Cathedral Basilica of Saint Joseph The River Church Community The Cathedral of Faith St. Francis of Assisi Jubilee Christian Center Five Wounds Church Bethel Church Family Community Church Buddhist centers Buddhist Church San Jose Betsuin San Jose Dharma Punx Golden Sage Monastery Floating Zendo Trung Tam Tue Vien Wisdom Garden Buddhist Center San Jose Buddhist Church Lotus Preschool Quan The Am Temple An Ton Meditation Center Quan The Am Thien Tu Chao Chow Community Center of San Jose Tu Lam Buddhist Temple Wat Lao Buddhaxinaram The San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society Pao-hua Buddhist Temple Chua An Lac Synagogues Congregation Sinai Temple Emanu El-Reform Am Echad Orthodox Ahavas Torah-Torah Orthodox What is near San Jose? Santa Clara — 5 miles Palo Alto — 17 miles Santa Cruz — 32 miles Oakland — 40 miles San Francisco — 55 miles After taking in all this information are you still interested in moving to San Jose? Image Credit: Daderot, Wikipedia, Public domain