United States Β· North America
Moving to San Jose
San Jose quick facts
United States at a glance
North America
Economy
World Bank Β· 2025Religion
% of populationCIA World Factbook / national censuses
Cost of living in San Jose
Can you move to United States?
Pick your passport to see whether you can enter United States β and what it takes to stay.
Entry rules come from github.com/imorte/passport-index-data, updated 17 February 2026. They change without notice β confirm with the official immigration service before booking.
Getting set up in United States
Status, Social Security number and California's very short clock
There is no post-arrival registration in the US: your I-94 record is your status. In the first weeks you need a Social Security number if work-authorised, or an ITIN if not. California's distinctive pressure is timing: the DMV's guidance gives 20 days to register a vehicle brought into the state and the licence rule is tighter still, against Bay Area appointment queues measured in weeks. California also issues an AB 60 licence to residents who cannot document lawful presence β valid for driving, explicitly not a federal identity document. Given that this valley runs on employer sponsorship, the other thing worth understanding early is how portable your status actually is if the job ends.
Read the full step-by-step guide20 days to register, the smog certificate, and a car you may not be able to bring
California gives you 20 days from becoming a resident to register a vehicle you brought with you, and expects a licence sooner than that. Two California-specific traps sit downstream. Registering an out-of-state vehicle generally requires a smog certification, and a car built to federal rather than California emission standards can be refused registration if it is too new and has too few miles on it β so 'I'll just drive my car out' is not always available. And California registration fees are calculated partly on the vehicle's value, so they are markedly higher than in most states.
Read the full step-by-step guideOpening a bank account, building credit, and being paid partly in stock
You can open a US account without a Social Security number: federal rules let a bank use your passport number and country of issuance, or an ITIN, as the identifying number. The credit problem is the standard American one, and it bites harder here than in most cities because landlords in a tight rental market screen aggressively. The local wrinkle is compensation: a large share of pay here arrives as restricted stock, which means a brokerage account, a withholding rate that frequently under-covers the actual tax, and a tax bill that can be genuinely surprising in the first April.
Read the full step-by-step guideCovered California, a state individual mandate, and Medi-Cal
Coverage comes from an employer, from Covered California β the state's own marketplace, not HealthCare.gov β or from Medi-Cal if your income qualifies. California is one of a small group of states that kept an individual mandate after the federal penalty was zeroed out, so being uninsured here carries a state tax penalty administered through your Franchise Tax Board return. Covered California's open-enrolment window has historically run longer than the federal one and the state adds its own subsidies on top of the federal ones. Locally, care is dominated by a handful of large systems and Kaiser Permanente is a closed system β choosing it is a bigger decision than choosing a network.
Read the full step-by-step guideGetting a US phone number, and staying connected through a shutoff
The US has no SIM registration requirement, so getting connected is trivially easy: buy a prepaid SIM or eSIM and it works immediately. The friction is postpaid contracts, which run a credit check you cannot pass on arrival. What is genuinely local is resilience: the utility de-energises lines pre-emptively in fire weather, California requires mobile networks to hold backup power in high fire-risk areas, and after a significant earthquake text messages get through when calls do not. A power bank and a household meeting point are ordinary preparedness here.
Read the full step-by-step guideThe highest state income tax in the country, and Proposition 13 underneath it
California has the highest top marginal state income tax rate in the United States, reaching 13.3% including the mental health services surcharge on very high incomes, on top of federal tax. State Disability Insurance is deducted from wages and, since the taxable wage ceiling was removed in 2024, applies to every dollar of wages rather than stopping at a cap β which raised the effective rate on high earners meaningfully. Property is the mirror image: Proposition 13 fixes the taxable value at the purchase price with a roughly 2% annual cap, so long-term owners pay very little and recent buyers pay a lot. California also taxes capital gains as ordinary income, which matters a great deal in a city paid substantially in equity.
Read the full step-by-step guideEach guide has verified costs, timelines, required documents, and the non-obvious gotchas β sourced from official government pages. Last verified August 2026.
Essential English phrases
Reading a list isnβt learning it. Globe Quest turns these into a trainer β hear each phrase spoken, drill them with spaced repetition, and get scored as you say them out loud.
What to know before you go
California's new-resident deadlines are the tightest in the country β act in week one
CriticalThe DMV's own guidance gives you 20 days to register a vehicle you brought into the state, and the licence requirement for a resident who drives is tighter still β commonly cited as 10 days, though it is worth confirming the current day count with the DMV directly. Either way this is not the 60 or 90 days several other states allow, and DMV appointments in the Bay Area book out weeks ahead. Book the appointment before you have unpacked.
Understand Proposition 13 before you compare any two housing costs
CriticalCalifornia pegs a property's taxable value to its purchase price and limits growth to roughly 2% a year until it sells, when it is reassessed at the new price. The practical effects are large. A long-term owner next door may pay a fraction of what you would on an identical house. Landlords with a low basis can rent below market and still do well, which is part of why some older buildings are cheaper than they look. And a buyer's tax bill is set by what they paid, not by what the neighbourhood pays. Check the actual assessed value on the county assessor's record rather than assuming.
Work out which rent law covers the specific building
CriticalSan JosΓ© runs its own Apartment Rent Ordinance capping annual increases at 5% for most multi-unit buildings that were occupied before 7 September 1979, alongside a city Tenant Protection Ordinance requiring just cause for eviction. California's statewide Tenant Protection Act separately caps increases at 5% plus regional inflation to a 10% maximum on most buildings over 15 years old. Which one applies depends on the building's age and unit count, and the difference is real money. Ask the landlord in writing which regime the unit falls under.
Security deposits are capped at one month now β insist on it
CriticalCalifornia limited residential security deposits to one month's rent for deposits taken from 1 July 2024, furnished or unfurnished, with a narrow exception allowing two months for small landlords who are natural persons owning no more than two rental properties totalling no more than four units. Landlords and letting agents still occasionally quote the old two-month norm. The law changed; the ask is not.
Apply for your Social Security number about ten days after arriving
CriticalThe Social Security Administration verifies your status against DHS records that lag entry by one to two weeks, so going in on day two usually wastes the trip. Only work-authorised people qualify; everyone else files IRS Form W-7 for an ITIN. The card is free.
You are on two active faults β plan for a week, not a day
ImportantThe Hayward and Calaveras faults run through the East Bay hills immediately beside this valley, and the San Andreas runs along the Santa Cruz Mountains on the other side. Standard home and renters' policies exclude earthquake damage entirely; cover is bought separately, usually through the California Earthquake Authority. Beyond insurance, the official guidance is a week of water and supplies per person, because after a significant quake the constraint is roads and water mains, not goodwill.
Top industries & employers
Networking, semiconductors & hardware
Cisco, Broadcom, Nvidia (Santa Clara), Samsung Semiconductor, Western Digital, Super Micro, Lam Research, Applied Materials
San Jose proper is the hardware half of Silicon Valley β networking gear, chips, storage and the equipment that makes chips. It is the least visible half from outside and, for engineers, often the more durable one.
Software & internet
Adobe, eBay, PayPal, Zoom, Cadence, Splunk legacy, ServiceNow (Santa Clara)
Adobe, eBay and PayPal all have their headquarters inside San Jose city limits rather than in the surrounding towns, which is why downtown has an office core at all. Google's Downtown West project by Diridon Station was approved and then paused β treat it as a possibility, not a plan.
AI & data infrastructure
Nvidia, an extensive start-up layer, the large cloud providers' Bay Area campuses
The current cycle's centre of gravity, and the reason South Bay rents stopped falling after the remote-work dip. Compensation at the top of this market is genuinely unlike anywhere else in the country, and so is the volatility.
Aerospace & defence
Lockheed Martin Space (Sunnyvale), Moffett Field tenants, SRI International (Menlo Park)
A long-standing valley industry that predates the software one β the Sunnyvale space business dates to the 1950s. Most roles need US citizenship and a clearance, so it is context rather than an accessible market for new arrivals.
Health care
Kaiser Permanente, Stanford Health Care, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, El Camino Health, Good Samaritan
The largest employment sector that is not tied to the technology cycle, and the most reliable local hiring when the technology cycle turns. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center is the county's public hospital and a Level I trauma centre.
Clean energy & mobility
Bloom Energy, Tesla's supplier network, Zoox and the autonomous-vehicle cluster, San Jose Clean Energy
California's regulatory pressure created a real industry here. San Jose Clean Energy is the city's own community choice electricity provider β the city buys the power and the incumbent utility delivers it β which is the arrangement you will be enrolled in by default.
Where to go in San Jose
Japantown
Neighborhood Β· North of downtown
One of only three historic Japantowns remaining in the United States, and the only one that was never redeveloped away β six blocks of pre-war businesses, a Buddhist temple and Sunday's farmers market.
Local tip: Go for the Obon festival in summer, and for Roy's Station or the family-run counters on Jackson Street the rest of the year. It is a working neighbourhood, not a themed district, which is exactly the point.
Little Saigon on Story Road
Food Β· East San Jose
The commercial heart of one of the largest Vietnamese communities of any city outside Vietnam β Grand Century and Vietnam Town malls, and a dense strip of phα», bΓ‘nh mΓ¬ and cΓ phΓͺ sα»―a ΔΓ‘.
Local tip: Go hungry and go on a weekend morning when the bakeries are turning over. This is the single strongest argument that San Jose's food scene is underrated by people who only visit downtown.
Willow Glen and Lincoln Avenue
Neighborhood Β· South-west of downtown
A 1920s streetcar suburb annexed into the city, with the most walkable high street in San Jose along Lincoln Avenue and bungalows on tree-lined grids behind it.
Local tip: The Friday evening and summer street closures on Lincoln are when it is at its best. It is the part of the city that feels least like Silicon Valley and it is priced accordingly.
Alum Rock Park and the eastern foothills
Nature Β· East San Jose
California's oldest municipal park, in a canyon of mineral springs and grottoes in the foothills, with trails climbing straight out of a residential neighbourhood.
Local tip: Go in late winter or early spring when the hills are green β by July they are golden and hot. The Penitencia Creek trail links back down into the city if you would rather not drive both ways.
Santana Row & Valley Fair
Nightlife Β· West San Jose, by Winchester Boulevard
A purpose-built European-style street of restaurants, bars and flats facing one of the highest-grossing shopping centres in the United States.
Local tip: It is entirely manufactured and it is also where the South Bay actually goes out midweek. Park at Valley Fair and walk over rather than circling Santana Row's own garages.
The Winchester Mystery House
Hidden gemLandmark Β· West San Jose, opposite Santana Row
A Victorian mansion extended continuously for decades by the Winchester rifle heiress, with staircases into ceilings and doors opening onto drops β 160 rooms of it, and no overall plan.
Local tip: The famous version is the ghost story; the genuinely interesting version is what it shows about 1880s building technology and one very wealthy person's improvisation. Book the extended tour or skip it.
Emergency numbers in San Jose
Compare San Jose withβ¦
Side-by-side cost of living, language, climate and careers β to help you choose.