Saturday Stats: Best Cities to Trick or Treat 2013

Zillow's latest rankings of the top cities to Trick-or-Treat in has just came in and San Jose moved up to the #4 spot for 2013! This is up from 5th place last year (we overtook Seattle). San Francisco is yet again in the #1 spot.

The rankings are based on four equally weighted variables: Home Value Index, Population Density, Walk Score, and Local Crime Data.

See the full list below along with the top neighborhoods in San Jose for Trick-or-Treating.

Source: Zillow

Saturday Stats: Median Home Prices for Ultra-Rich and Everyone Else

Redfin published an article last month claiming that the richest 1% of American are faring better after the housing crash than the rest of the 99%. The median for the top 1% of homes is only 4% below the 2007 peak, while the lower 99% is still 23% behind the overall peak. However, what is more interesting to me is the charts below. In the 20 or so markets evaluated, San Jose came up with the 3rd highest median price for homes in the top 1%, below Los Angeles and San Francisco. On the flip-side, if you look at the bottom 99%, the San Jose area has the highest median price for homes, topping even San Francisco.

What does this mean? At the very least, in terms of housing we are slightly less unequal than other metros between the uber-wealthy and everyone else. Also we have the most expensive real estate in the report for those that are not extremely rich. Nothing really surprising, but interesting nonetheless.

Source: Redfin

Saturday Stats: San Jose Draws the Greatest Influx of New Residents in the US

It looks like there is more to all the Silicon Valley traffic this year than just a larger number of people having jobs post-recession. San Jose has taken the top spot in terms of inbound moves in the nation. There were 51% more inbound moves than outbound moves in San Jose. That means that for every 100 families that move out of the city, 151 are moving in.

Second place went to Portland, which was followed by Houston in third, San Francisco in fourth, and Charlotte rounding out the top five. The five cities with the largest moving deficits were Chicago (25.9% more moving out than in), New York City, St. Louis, Boston, and Norfolk-Virginia Beach.

What does this mean? Well, our population is going to continue to grow. We're going to have to continue to look at how we can increase density and infrastructure to accommodate what could become quite a large city. Some are estimating 1.4 million San Jose residents by 2040. This also will likely mean more "big-city" amenities that would be expected of a larger city and accelerated growth of the burgeoning culture scene in San Jose.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: San Jose is Ranked the Happiest, Healthiest City in America!

We nailed another great stat. Prevention magazine named San Jose the happiest, healthiest city in the US! The evaluated the 100 largest metros in the US and looked at 48 different measures of health, happiness, and well-being. These include metrics such as access to green space, number of farmer's markets, disease incidence, depression, unemployment, and FBI crime stats.

San Jose scored high for people eating a ton of organic produce, 18 community gardens, easy access to healthy food, and great climate. I'm sure the employment and crime stats helped as well. San Francisco was a few steps behind us in 7th place.

Source: Prevention, Huffington Post, Hat tip to Christina Barrie and Alex Shoor

Japantown Farmers' Market

Saturday Stats: SJC Traffic Up 5.4% Year-Over-Year

Thing are looking up for the airport. Passenger traffic rose for the seventh consecutive month in a row. In July 813,628 passengers went through SJC, which is a substantial 5.4% increase over the same month in 2012. Overall, SJC traffic is up 4.9% year-to-date, which means growth is accelerating over time. Sure there were some extraneous factors in there like the Asiana crash and the economy, but this is a good sign for the airport. Keep in mind that the city owns the airport, and the profits (or losses) eventually flow back to San Jose.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: San Jose Ranked #6 Best City for Small Business

We have a great Saturday stat for you you today. Our of all major cities in the US, San Jose was ranked as the #6 best city for small businesses! What makes this all the more meaningful, is that San Jose was the ONLY California city on the list. The rankings were calculated by factoring in state income taxes (5% weight), city income taxes (10% weight), payroll taxes (25% weight), city property taxes (10% weight), city growth rankings (20% weight), and ease of licensing requirements (30% weight).

San Francisco did not rank. In fact, New York did not even rank. For a business earning $100k a year in New York City, they would have the worst tax rate and they also scored very poorly from a licensing perspective. San Francisco also has difficult licensing requirements (much worst than San Jose) and also is subject to higher taxes (2% more than San Jose).

San Jose qualified with no local income tax (city income tax), a low property tax rate, the top growth rank rate of all cities evaluated, and a decent but not great license friendliness rank. Again, the fact that this was the only city in California to qualify is quite substantial.

List of Top 10 Best Cities for Small Business

1. Austin, TX
Tech giants Dell and IBM make their home here, but Austin proves equally friendly to small businesses. The city scores highly thanks to no state or local personal income taxes and its 2nd place rank in the Milken Institute’s 2012 Best Performing Cities for favorable growth prospects in technology, real wages and jobs. Austin also scored 2nd for its hassle-free business licensing requirements, according to data from Thumbtack’s 2013 Small Business Friendliness Survey.

Local income tax: 0% (sample median: 0%)
City property tax: 1.24% (sample median: 1.35%)
Growth rate rank: 2
License friendliness rank: 2

2. San Antonio, TX
Home to big companies like Clear Channel and Valero, San Antonio earns the second spot in our list because it has the highest ranking for friendly licensing requirements, where on average small business owners say that the city’s regulatory environment is “somewhat friendly.” San Antonio also scores in the top 10 for its growth prospects.

Local income tax: 0%
City property tax: 1.36%
Growth rate rank: 6
License friendliness rank: 1

3. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
Dallas is home to over a dozen Fortune 500 companies and like other Texas cities, it is very welcoming to small businesses, scoring in the top 5 for ease of licensing requirements and growth prospects. While it did not score highly for property taxes, Dallas is still a very attractive city for small business.

Local income tax: 0%
City property tax: 1.38%
Growth rate rank: 5
License friendliness rank: 5

4. Baltimore, MD
One of only three East coast cities to make our list, Baltimore earned a top 10 spot because it ranked 3rd for its hassle free licensing requirements. One downside is that Baltimore levies personal income taxes between 1.25 and 3.2% and scores poorly because of relatively high property taxes.

Local income tax: 3.2%
City property tax: 2.27%
Growth rate rank: 7
License friendliness rank: 3

5. Houston, TX
Houston ranks fifth thanks to a very friendly overall tax environment. It had the third lowest city property tax rates at 1.15% and ranked third for growth prospects.

Local income tax: 0%
City property tax: 1.15%
Growth rate rank: 3
License friendliness rank: 11

6. San Jose, CA
The only California city to make our list, San Jose earned the no. 1 spot in America in Milken’s growth ratings, largely thanks to an influx of Silicon Valley technology companies and educated labor force. The city also scored in the top 10 for low-hassle licensing requirements.

Local income tax: 0%
City property tax: 1.27%
Growth rate rank: 1
License friendliness rank: 7

7. Charlotte, NC
While North Carolina isn’t known for its friendly income tax code, Charlotte did score highly for low unemployment tax rates and scored in the top 10 for property taxes, long-term growth prospects and non-burdensome licensing requirements.

Local income tax: 0%
City property tax: 1.28%
Growth rate rank: 8
License friendliness rank: 10

8. Indianapolis, IN
While not as tax friendly as Texas cities, Indianapolis scored 6th for easy licensing requirements and 10th for future growth rates. Indianapolis ranked poorly for property taxes and also levies an income tax of 1.62%.

Local income tax: 1.62%
City property tax: 3.35%
Growth rate rank: 10
License friendliness rank: 6

9. Jacksonville, FL
Jacksonville scores in our top ten largely thanks to its presence in Florida, a state with zero personal income taxes and relatively low payroll taxes. Jacksonville earned 4th place for its easy licensing requirements but scores lower for growth prospects (15th) and property taxes (12th).

Local income tax: 0%
City property tax: 1.80%
Growth rate rank: 15
License friendliness rank: 4

10. Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix earned 10th place mainly because of Arizona’s tax friendly environment: the state scores 3rd for lowest income tax rates and 2nd for lowest payroll taxes. Phoenix scores 8th overall for property taxes and 9th for ease of licensing requirements.

Local income tax: 0%
City property tax: 1.30%
Growth rate rank: 16

License friendliness rank: 9

Source: Nerdwallet, SVBJ

Saturday Stats: San Jose Ranks as 2nd Most "Thriving" City in America

The Daily Beast has put together a list of urban areas whose economies have been improving faster than most in the US. San Jose ranks 2nd on the list! They looked only at the 100 largest metros and compared their population growth (20% weight), employment and earnings (30% weight), market strength (20% weight), infrastructure (15% weight), and intellectual capital (15% weight). Below are the results!

America's Thriving Cities

1.) Irvine

2.) San Jose

3.) Fremont

4.) Austin

5.) San Francisco

6.) Seattle

7.) Plano

8.) Gilbert

9.) Orlando

10.) San Diego

Source: The Daily Beast, Hat tip to Dan

Saturday Stats: San Jose (Silicon Valley) Has the Fastest Moving Real Estate Market

We all know the real estate market in San Jose is hot, but it turns out that it is hotter than the rest of the US-- including the metro over to the north--in at least a couple metrics. This past June, a staggering 52% of new real estate listings were under contract within 2 weeks, higher than any other market evaluated.

San Jose also has the lowest level of supply in the report. Supply is the ratio of active listings at the end of the month to closed sales. More than six months of supply is a buyer's market and less than six months is a seller's market. With 1.1 months of supply, San Jose/Silicon Valley is a seller's dream. The downside is that kind of number will put upward pressure on prices and make it more difficult for new buyers to afford homes, and will likely have the side effect of pushing up rents as well.

Source: Redfin

Table 1: Speed by Market, June 2013

Speed Ranking	Market	Pending in 2 Weeks	Pending in 1 Week	Only on MLS-Powered Sites	# Flash Sales	Months of Supply
#1	San Jose, CA	52.0%	19.9%	45.7%	31	1.1
#2	San Francisco, CA	49.2%	17.9%	31.7%	70	1.2
#3	Ventura, CA	48.4%	31.2%	50.9%	16	1.6
#4	Denver, CO	44.4%	27.9%	32.5%	39	1.6
#5	Washington DC	44.1%	32.0%	60.1%	215	1.9
#6	Los Angeles, CA	44.0%	24.8%	48.3%	165	1.6
#7	Inland Empire, CA	43.9%	27.4%	40.7%	71	1.9
#8	San Diego, CA	43.6%	26.8%	37.5%	60	1.6
#9	Sacramento, CA	43.1%	23.7%	66.7%	22	1.7
#10	Seattle, WA	42.5%	29.9%	71.2%	31	1.9
#11	Austin, TX	42.2%	30.3%	63.7%	79	2.5
#12	Houston, TX	38.1%	24.7%	71.5%	104	2.4
#13	Portland, OR	36.4%	26.2%	20.1%	57	2.5
#14	Phoenix, AZ	32.7%	23.6%	30.2%	135	2.1
#15	Dallas, TX	29.5%	19.7%	72.0%	130	2.5
#16	Baltimore, MD	28.7%	19.1%	50.7%	60	3.2
#17	Miami, FL	24.2%	16.3%	29.1%	27	4.2
#18	Atlanta, GA	23.0%	12.7%	52.4%	39	5.7
#19	Chicago, IL	13.9%	8.7%	44.3%	176	4.3
#20	Raleigh, NC	11.4%	8.4%	17.4%	42	3.9
#21	Las Vegas, NV	11.0%	6.0%	24.7%	13	4.0
#22	Philadelphia, PA	9.1%	4.0%	25.2%	6	5.4
	National	30.5%	19.0%	48.2%	1,636	3.0

Saturday Stats: San Jose Ranks as the 5th Hardest Working City in America

The Movoto real estate blog has taken a stab at determining which cities are the hardest working. They used seven different criteria in their research: average hours worked per week, unemployment rate, commute time, employed workers per household, hours volunteered per year, lack of sleep, and cost of living. After crunching all of the numbers, San Jose ranked as the 5th hardest working city in the US. SF was right behind us at #6, and NYC came in at #11. You can get more information regarding all of the criteria by going to the blog post, and the full list is below:


Top 10 Hardest Working Cities

1. Seattle, WA
2. Arlington, TX
3. Fort Worth, TX
4. Austin, TX
5. San Jose, CA
6. San Francisco, CA
7. Dallas, TX
8. Virginia Beach, VA
9. Washington, D.C.
10. Houston, TX

Click the image below to Enlarge:



Source: Movoto

Saturday Stats: San Jose Ranks as One of the Most "Saintly" Cities

Movato has created a list of the most "Saintly" cities in the US by looking at the statistics related to the 7 Deadly Sins. Specifically they looked at the following:

• Strip clubs per capita (Lust)
• Cosmetic surgeons per capita (Pride)
• Violent crime per year per 1,000 residents (Wrath)
• Theft per year per 1,000 residents (Envy)
• Percentage of disposable income given to charity each year (Greed)
• Percentage of obese residents (Gluttony)
• Percentage of physically inactive residents (Sloth)

After crunching the numbers, San Jose came in as the 9th most "Saintly." SF did not even rank in the top 50 and surprisingly NYC came in 1st (surprising to me at least). To check out the full article which goes deep into the logic of the metrics, click here. You can also find the lists below:

List of Most Saintly Cities:
1. New York, NY
2. Gilbert, AZ
3. Fremont, CA
4. Glendale, CA
5. Chula Vista, CA
6. Colorado Springs, CO
7. Chandler, AZ
8. Long Beach, CA
9. San Jose, CA
10. Irvine, CA

Click to enlarge the full list below:



Source: Movoto

Saturday Stats: San Jose Ranked as the Best City to Work In!!!

Today we have yet another huge statistical win, Glassdoor ranked San Jose as the best city to work in! This is such a huge accomplishment that I didn't even bother with a source link, the full article is below. SF ranked #2, followed by Seattle, Salt Lake City, and Utah. NYC, the alpha city of the US (and the world) ranked #32.

San Jose Best City To Work In; Glassdoor Employment Satisfaction Report Card By City

Posted by Glassdoor Team • June 21st, 2013 • 67 Comments

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You can learn a lot about a city from others’ experiences thanks to social media, whether it’s the best restaurants to eat, which neighborhoods are quietest, or even what the weather is like at any given moment. But, what about what it’s like to work in 50 of the largest cities across the country? If you’re thinking about getting a new job in a different city, you might want to consider what others have to say and where employees are most satisfied.

To help, the Glassdoor Employment Satisfaction Report Card by City¹ offers an inside look into what it’s like to work in 50 of the largest U.S. metros. Not only does this report offer a comparison of overall employment satisfaction by city, but it goes in-depth to also compare compensation and benefits satisfaction, senior management satisfaction, expectations for company outlook, and the number of employers hiring per city.

This report is based on U.S. metro population and at least 500 reviews per metro shared on Glassdoor by local employees over the past year.

Top 5 Cities for Employment Satisfaction:

The Bay Area takes the lead as San Jose, CA (3.4 average employment satisfaction rating) and San Francisco, CA (3.4) take the top two spots. Interestingly, both cities are home to five companies that made Glassdoor’s Top 50 Best Places to Work for 2013 report – San Jose (Google #6, LinkedIn #14, Agilent Technologies #30, Intel#31, Apple #34) & San Francisco (Facebook #1, Riverbed Technology #3, Chevron #13, Workday #19,Salesforce.com #22).

Rounding out the top five cities for overall employment satisfaction are Seattle, WA (3.4), Salt Lake City, UT (3.3), and Washington, DC (3.3). (Ratings based on a 5-point scale: 1.0=very dissatisfied, 3.0=OK, 5.0=very satisfied).

Check out the complete results:

 

¹For simplicity of reporting, ratings are rounded to the nearest tenth. To determine rank, actual ratings extend to the thousandth.

Want to know even more about jobs hiring in the ten highest-rated cities? Check out just some of the most in-demand jobs:

#1: San Jose, CA

In-Demand Jobs:

• Software Engineer
• Program Manager
• Sales Associate

#2: San Francisco, CA

In-Demand Jobs:

• Software Engineer
• Online Sales Representative
• Sales Associate

#3: Seattle, WA

In-Demand Jobs:

• Software Engineer
• Sales Associate
• Barista

#4: Salt Lake City, UT

In-Demand Jobs:

• Software Engineer
• Sales Associate
• Customer Service Representative

#5: Washington, DC

In-Demand Jobs:

• Program Manager
• Systems Engineer
• Registered Nurse

#6: Orlando, FL

In-Demand Jobs:

• Physical Therapist
• Customer Service Representative
• Restaurant employee (bartender, line cook)

#7: San Diego, CA

In-Demand Jobs:

• Software Engineer
• Registered Nurse
• Personal Trainer

#8: Boston, MA

In-Demand Jobs:

• Business Analyst
• Financial Analyst
• Software Engineer

#9: Memphis, TN

In-Demand Jobs:

• Registered Nurse
• Sales Associate
• Event Specialist

#10: Austin, TX

In-Demand Jobs:

• Software Engineer
• Business Analyst
• Sales Associate

Note: Job titles represent just some of the most in-demand jobs per city; Based on at least 100 job listings per job title per city on Glassdoor as of 6/10/13.