Showing posts with label san jose statistics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label san jose statistics. Show all posts

Saturday, March 2, 2024

20 interesting facts about San Jose

With the sad news that SJtoday is pausing operations, I'd like to send them one last plug. This is one of my favorite recent articles. 

Did you know an elephant shut down SJC for 3 days? Or perhaps that the San Jose Earthquakes set the Guinness World Record for the largest ground breaking with 6,256 participants (I was one of them and still have the shovel). California's first and largest mercury mining operation was in San Jose, but did you know there is still a publicly accessible quicksilver mining museum in New Almaden?

To see the full list of interesting facts, head here. 

You'll be missed SJtoday!



Sunday, January 28, 2024

San Jose is one of America's most creative cities

San Jose was recently ranked as America's 9th most creative city by Singulart. This was based on criteria such as the percentage of people surveyed that are training to be in a creative field, create art, work with textiles, redesign rooms at home, and hours spent on creative hobbies each week. San Jose scored very highly in hobbies such as photography.

New York unsurprisingly came in at #1, LA was #13, and SF was #19. For more info head over to the source link below.

Source: Singulart



Thursday, January 18, 2024

San Jose has the lowest percentage of population living below US poverty level

Among US cities, San Jose has the fewest percentage of people making less than $35k a year, which is the national poverty level. The exact percentage is 12.31%. Napa and SF were in the top 15 as well, coming in at 12th and 14th place respectively with around 15% of families living below the poverty level.

The study also points out that while San Jose has the best percentage, the cost of living is also much higher than other parts of the country.

Source: Madison Trust




Saturday, November 18, 2023

San Jose ranked as 2nd best city to go to for Thanksgiving 🍗

Thanksgiving is one of America's favorite holidays and US families spend an average of $325 per person (!) during Thanksgiving weekend. This also includes your Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping.

WalletHub decided to look for the best cities in the US to celebrate Thanksgiving using 18 different metrics divided across five major categories: local celebrations and traditions, affordability, safety, volunteering, and weather.

San Jose came in 2nd place in the Thanksgiving rankings right after San Francisco. San Diego gobbled the 3rd spot. Despite an abysmal affordability rank, San Jose ranked highly in celebrations (think Turkey Trot), safety, giving thanks (volunteering), and of course weather. I love those Indian summers where we have gotten to celebrate Thanksgiving outside with family.

Source: WalletHub



Sunday, August 20, 2023

San Jose is the 2nd best place to raise a family in the US

U.S. News looked at quality of life, job markets, crime, healthcare, quality of high school education, and affordability to find the best places to live in the country. Even though affordability was one of those variables, San Jose made it to 2nd place. In fact, it was the only California city to make the list.

San Jose also ranked #1 in college readiness for high school students out of the 150 most populous metros in the US.

Here are the 25 best places to live for families in the U.S according to U.S. News:

25. Boise, Idaho
24. Cincinnati
23. Davenport-Bettendorf, Iowa, and Moline-Rock Island, Illinois (Quad Cities)
22. Washington, D.C.
21. Rochester, New York
20. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
19. Portland, Maine
18. Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina
17. Buffalo, New York
16. Ann Arbor, Michigan
15. Hickory, North Carolina
14.Omaha, Nebraska
13. Pittsburgh
12. Syracuse, New York
11. Madison, Wisconsin
10. Lincoln, Nebraska
9. Fort Wayne, Indiana
8. Grand Rapids, Michigan
7. Albany, New York
6. Des Moines, Iowa
5. Minneapolis-St. Paul
4. Fayetteville, Arkansas
3. Green Bay, Wisconsin
2. San Jose, California
1. Huntsville, Alabama

Source: U.S. News



Wednesday, March 8, 2023

2023 Silicon Valley Index

The Joint Venture Silicon Valley Index has been providing insights on our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for over 25 years. It provides an honest and holistic view of life in Silicon Valley.

You can download the 2023 Silicon Valley Index over here.

Below are some of the key findings:

  • The region continued battling surges, but the COVID death rate per capita declined in 2022.
    • COVID-19 dropped to Silicon Valley’s sixth leading cause of death in 2022, down from third in 2021.
  • The region recovered from pandemic job losses by April 2022. Unemployment hit an historic low. Tech is becoming more highly concentrated.
    • Silicon Valley added 88,000 jobs between mid-2021 and mid-2022, a growth rate of 5.4%. An estimated 22,000 jobs were added in the second half of the year. The 30 largest firms account for 42 % of tech employment (19 % are at Google, Apple, and Meta alone).
  • The rise and fall of the stock market drove large shifts in venture funding and IPOs.
    • Pandemic-period stock market gains of nearly $9 trillion proved transitory as the market tumbled in 2022. Half of all venture capital flowing to Silicon Valley or San Francisco companies was in the form of megadeals ($24.7 billion spread across 116 megadeals).
  • Demand for commercial space is tempered by remote work, but specialized R&D space is hot.
    • Though remote work is shifting the dynamic, leasing activity remained strong throughout 2022. While there was a 45% increase in the number of lease agreements, the average amount of space per lease has sharply declined.
  • Remote work is increasing, creating extra capacity on roadways and decimating public transit.
    • The share of remote workers grew to 35% in 2022, up from 28% in 2021. Private commuter shuttles are being put out of service. Caltrain ridership fell to 4,100 daily riders, down from 67,000 (-92%). BART recovered 35% of its pre-pandemic riders.
  • Silicon Valley’s population is declining; the share of young people is also falling.
    • Silicon Valley’s population declined by 38,900 residents between mid-2020 and mid-2021, the highest figure ever recorded. The decline was due to a 74% rise in domestic outmigration, a reversal of the net flow of foreign immigrants (-103 %), declining birth rates, and rising death rates.
  • The pandemic and patterns of outmigration haven’t affected soaring home prices
    • Silicon Valley’s high home prices rose 7% in 2022, reaching a record-breaking median price of $1.53 million. The share of first-time homebuyers who can afford a median priced home fell to 27% and is as low as 14% for the region’s Black or African Americans and Hispanic or Latino residents.
  • Inflation outpaced income gains; assistance programs scale upwards
    • Increases in the regional Consumer Price Index since 2019 outpaced household income gains, resulting in a $550 decline in median household income in 2021. Childcare costs rose twice as quickly as the regional inflation rate since 2010 (+85%). Average wages vary significantly across racial and ethnic groups, with the largest disparity between Hispanic or Latino and White, not Hispanic or Latino residents.
  • Silicon Valley has the nation’s largest gaps, and they are increasing.
    • For the first time ever, ultra-high net worth households are included in regional wealth data. Through this lens, inequality is even more stark, with the top 0.001% of Silicon Valley’s households holding more wealth than the nearly 500,000 households in the bottom 50%.
    • In 2022 the top 10 % of Silicon Valley households hold 66% of the wealth; eight Silicon Valley households residents hold more wealth than that of the bottom 50% combined (nearly half a million households).
    • While income inequality was lessening in the state and nation (down 1 and 3%) it rose in Silicon Valley by 5% in 2021.
    • 28% of Silicon Valley households are below income-adequacy; those households include 42% of the region’s children. 42% of children in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties live in households that are not self-sufficient; the most influential factor for these households is the cost of childcare.
    • Income adequacy varies significantly by race and ethnicity. Among those most likely to live below Self-Sufficiency Standards are Hispanic or Latino non-citizens and those with limited English.








Monday, December 12, 2022

San Jose ranked top metro for immigrant success

A report entitled "Immigrants and Opportunities in American Cities" ranked US metros that were most likely to help immigrants succeed. The criteria included household incomes, innovation, staffing in essential occupations like nursing, and measures of cultural appeal.

San Jose took home the gold medal as the city most likely to help immigrants succeed. San Jose was followed by Baltimore-Columbia-Towson in Maryland, San Francisco-Oakland in 3rd place, and Seattle in 4th.

Also included in the study was a note that metros with higher immigrant populations tended to preform better than other places in terms of income, startup businesses, and productivity.

As a product of two immigrants, I'm happy to see San Jose continue to be a welcoming environment to newcomers.

Source: SVBJ



Wednesday, April 15, 2020

2020 Silicon Valley Index

The Joint Venture Silicon Valley Index has been providing insights on our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for over 20 years. It provides an honest and holistic view of life in Silicon Valley, with the obvious exception that it was published before COVID-19. It's worth reading for a reminder of where we were at the start of 2020. We can use today's events as a chance to reflect on what we can do differently when we hopefully return to normalcy sometime later this year.

You can download the 2020 Silicon Valley Index over here.

Below are a few items that stood out for me:

  • We have had nine continuous years of expansion since the last recession, adding 821,000 jobs in the Bay Area.
  • Over that same time period, we only permitted 173,000 new homes and have 100,000 megacommuters [Josh: hopefully the option to work remotely continues for many post-COVID].
  • Labor productivity reached a record $241,000 per worker, a 53% increase from 2001.
  • Unemployment hit 2.1%, a 19-year low.
  • More people are leaving the region than coming in.
  • Home prices declined 6% in 2019, yet median home sale prices are still the highest in the country (over $1 million).
  • Income inequality hit a historic high with 13% of households holding 75% of the region's wealth.
  • Internet speeds are slow compared to SF, California, and the country as a whole [Josh: this is shocking for living in the middle of Silicon Valley].
  • Individual median income is $117,000 and 82% of the population is above 150% of the poverty level.
  • Silicon Valley's ethnic breakdown is 35% Asian, 33% White, 25% Hispanic/Latino, 5% Multiple/Other, and 2% Black/African American.
  • 24% of Silicon Valley residents have Graduate or Professional Degrees.
  • 51% of families speak a language other than English at home (vs. 41% for SF, 45% for California, and 22% for the US).
  • The Bay Area has by far the largest number of tech jobs and greatest % of people employed in tech out of any region in the US.
  • 9% of Silicon Valley Residents lack access to adequate food and nutrition
  • San Jose generates more patents than any other city in California (11% of all CA patents in fact).
  • In 2019, traffic delays cost as much as $3.4 billion in lost productivity for Silicon Valley workers.




Monday, February 3, 2020

San Jose is one of the top cities for millennials

COMMERCIALCafé has put together a study on the top 10 metros for millennials to live and work in. They ranked each metro based on seven indicators: millennial population, growth, regional price parity, millennial unemployment rate, percentage of millennials with employer-based health insurance, and commuting time.

San Jose came in 10th place and came in 1st place in terms of health insurance. Our millennial unemployment rate was also the fourth lowest in the study and we had the second best education metric. To find out more, hit the link below.

Source: COMMERCIALCafé



Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Unemployment in San Jose Metro hits record low

According to the California Employment Development Department, unemployment in Santa Clara County has dropped to 2.1%. This is the lowest number on record, and that includes the .COM days in 1998-2000.

The six counties with the lowest unemployment in California are all here. San Mateo managed a jaw-dropping 1.7%, San Francisco was at 1.9%, Marin was at 1.9% Sonoma came in at 2.3%, and Napa rounds out the top 6 at 2.3%. This compares to a statewide unemployment rate of 3.5%.

This means that now is probably a great time to ask for a raise or evaluate all of your opportunities. It has become a strong employee's market with more available jobs than qualified applicants.

Source: SVBJ


Thursday, May 23, 2019

San Jose holds 3rd place in US solar rankings

We just hit the highest level of atmospheric carbon dioxide in 3 million years. Fortunately, some cities are doing their part to reduce CO2 as much as possible. San Jose has the highest per-capita electric vehicle adoption of any major city in the United States and now we are 3rd when it comes to per capita solar adoption.

Only sunny San Diego and Honolulu (where electricity rates are insane) are ranked higher than San Jose. San Francisco came in 20th place.

As the prices of solar systems drop and electricity becomes more expensive, hopefully adoption of clean energy will continue to rise.

Source: SJ Economy Blog


Wednesday, May 15, 2019

San Jose ranked 2nd best small business growth city

For the 2nd year in a row, San Jose was ranked as the 2nd best metro for small businesses in the US.  The analysis was based on the financials of almost 30,000 companies. San Jose also had the highest average credit score of any city.

Miami took the crown for being the #1 growth city for small business, while San Francisco came in 3rd place. Below is the full list.

Top 25 Cities for Small Business 2019

  1. Miami (No. 3)
  2. San Jose, CA (No. 2)
  3. San Francisco (No. 4)
  4. New York (No. 1)
  5. San Diego (No. 9)
  6. Los Angeles (No. 5)
  7. Boston (unranked)
  8. Sacramento, CA (No. 10)
  9. Baltimore (No. 16)
  10. Washington, DC (No. 7)
  11. Philadelphia (No. 22)
  12. Chicago (No. 12)
  13. Seattle (No. 14)
  14. Riverside, CA (No. 6)
  15. Minneapolis (unranked)
  16. Phoenix (No. 11)
  17. Las Vegas (No. 18)
  18. Charlotte, NC (No. 24)
  19. Nashville, TN (unranked)
  20. Raleigh, NC (unranked)
  21. Detroit (No. 20)
  22. Oklahoma City (unranked)
  23. Houston (No. 21)
  24. Cleveland (unranked)
  25. Pittsburgh (unranked)
Source: SJ Economy Blog

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

San Jose is the 8th Happiest City in the US

WalletHub crunched the numbers and evaluated the 180th largest US cities to find the happiest people in America. There were 31 indicators of happiness including depression rates, income growth, life expectancy, rate of illness & disability, participation in sports, and overall leisure time. San Jose made it to the 8th spot on the list. The only local city that beat us was Fremont at 4th place. San Francisco was two spots below us to round out the top 10.

Source: WalletHub, hat tip to Barclay Livker for sending this in


Thursday, March 28, 2019

The San Jose metro is the most "equity-rich" in the county

Of all the metro areas in the US, San Jose has the highest percentage of "equity-rich" homes at 72%. Equity rich means your loan-to-value ratio (LTV) is heavily weighted towards value. For example, if you have a loan for $300,000 and the home is worth $1 million, there is $700,000 in equity there and that would be considered equity-rich.

More than 7 out of every 10 homes in San Jose now fall into this category. In comparison, the San Francisco metro came in second at 61%. California has the highest share of equity-rich homes of all states, and came in at 39%.

Even more impressive, eight of the top 10 equity-rich zip codes in the USA are in San Jose. In the top 100, 85 of the top zip codes are in the Bay Area.

Yes, this is a very expensive place to live... but for those lucky enough to own their own homes there is some reassurance that you can either tap equity as needed or move to a less expensive place and live like someone that won a small lottery.

Source: SVBJ


Thursday, September 13, 2018

San Jose is the 3rd most educated city in the US

It should come as no surprise that a region overflowing with tech talent is also one of the most educated in the country. The San Jose metro ranked third when it comes to education. The study looked at the 150 largest metros and evaluated the number of adults with college degrees as well as the quality of schools in the region. Ann Arbor came in 1st place, followed by the DC area. SF/Oakland came in 5th and New York was 29th.

Source: WalletHub, thanks to Barclay Livker for sending this in!


Monday, April 16, 2018

San Jose is the 4th-best city for startups

Business.org crunched several factors such as the percentage of the population with advanced degrees, unemployment rates, startup growth rates, and rents to come up with the best cities in the US for startups. Despite having insanely high rents, San Jose still came in 4th place. SF took the top spot, followed by Austin and Minneapolis.

The percentage of young adults may have also been a factor that worked in other cities' favor. This was a criteria since this demographic tends to be early adopters. For the full list click the source link below.

Source: SVBJ


Friday, March 2, 2018

San Jose is the 8th most diverse city in the US

Anyone who grew up here can tell you that San Jose is a melting pot of cultures. Now we have a way to better quantify it. A new study by WalletHub compared the 501 most populous US cities across ethnoracial diversity, linguistic diversity, and birthplace diversity. After crunching all the numbers we came in 8th place (3rd place if you only look at big cities). San Jose also had the 2nd highest linguistic diversity rank in the nation. Oakland just slightly edged us out at #7 while San Francisco came in #12.

Source: WalletHub, thanks to Barclay Livker for sending this in!


Saturday, January 6, 2018

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the most expensive city to move to

Unfortunately, not all of our top stat rankings are positive. Even though the San Jose metro has the highest median salaries in the country, we also have some astronomical living expenses. 24/7 Wall St. did a study on moving costs, and we won--in a bad way. The San Jose metro is the most expensive area in the country to move to with an average total moving cost of $5,798. Despite that, our population continues to grow year after year (there are many other reasons to move here despite the costs).

Source: 24/7 Wall St., hat tip to Barclay Livker


Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Saturday Stats: 2017 Meta Post

It's that time of year again to look back and see the top "Saturday Stats" of 2017. The list is pretty impressive yet again. San Jose ranked as the top city for productivity, tech jobs, and economic momentum. Happiness and health are also up there. 

You can also see the full list of "Saturday Stats" (including previous years) with article links over here.


Thursday, November 30, 2017

Your eyes will melt when you see how much income is needed to buy a house in San Jose

The average annual income you need to buy a home in the United States is $55,390. That is already an insane amount for most of the globe. In New York City that figure doubles to $99,151. San Francisco more than triples the national average with a staggering $173,330. Unfortunately, San Jose takes the national crown in one of the few stats we don't want to dominate. Brace yourself... to buy a medium priced home in San Jose today--you should be making $216,181 each year. Oh, and that is assuming you have the capital saved up for a 20% down payment. Um, ouch!

Source: SiliconBeat