on $100k a year, leaving Harrisburg

change
Columbus, OH cityscape

from harrisburg

Columbus

oh · metro 2.2M

a dispatch from

columbus

OH

39.96°N

83.00°W

Columbus is Ohio State on autumn Saturdays (the Horseshoe holds 100,000+ and they all wear scarlet), German Village's cobblestone streets and brick cottages, and a Short North gallery scene that punches well above its weight. It's quietly become a test market for the rest of America because the demographics line up so neatly. The food scene leans young, weird, and good. 'Buckeyes' here can mean either the football team or the chocolate-peanut-butter candy.

metro2.2M

01 · the verdict

the verdict

$142

more each month than Harrisburg ran you

Almost a wash on cost. The case for Columbus is about what you'd do there, not what you'd save.
landable, recorded on the columbus entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,511/mo

4% more expensive than Harrisburg(vs $1,446/mo)

02state income tax

3.99%

$77/mo more in state tax than Harrisburg

vs 3.07% in Harrisburg

03after rent

$6,490/mo

$142 less than Harrisburg

gross of federal tax. a comparison, not a paycheck.

04a house here

$350k

13% more expensive than Harrisburg

vs $309k in Harrisburg

05metro size

2.2M

vs 606k in Harrisburg

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

171

pleasant days a year, in columbus.

Harrisburg barely cracks 152 pleasant ones.

3.5× the events of Harrisburg, and the calendar shows it.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

57/100

17% lower than Harrisburg

vs 69/100 in Harrisburg

Closest outdoor draw: Alum Creek State Park, 16.2 mi.

·walk score®

85/100

9% lower than Harrisburg

vs 93/100 in Harrisburg

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

32

167% more than Harrisburg

vs 12 nonstops in Harrisburg

04 · see also

neighbors of columbus on the map of tradeoffs:

compare columbus with: