with $100k coming in, swapping out of Austin

change
Pittsburgh, PA cityscape

next stop after austin

Pittsburgh

pa · metro 2.4M

photo: Jay Brand / pexels

a dispatch from

pittsburgh

PA

40.44°N

80.00°W

Pittsburgh has more bridges than Venice (446, and locals will tell you the exact number), three rivers crashing together downtown, and a sandwich tradition where the fries go inside. The mills are long gone but the neighborhoods they built (Polish Hill, Bloomfield, the Strip) still feed you like a great aunt. Carnegie Mellon and UPMC turned the old industrial bones into a robotics and medical research scene. The skyline reveal coming through the Fort Pitt Tunnel is the cheapest awe in America.

metro2.4M

in our guides

#5

of 10

Best affordable cities to live car-free

read the guide
#5

of 10

Best affordable cities to retire

read the guide
#7

of 10

Best cities for retirees who love the outdoors

read the guide
#6

of 10

Best cities for families

read the guide
#10

of 10

Best cities for families who love the outdoors

read the guide
#9

of 10

Best cities for mild four-season weather

read the guide
#9

of 10

Cheapest cities in America

read the guide
#4

of 10

Best cities to leave New York for

read the guide
#8

of 10

Best cities to leave Los Angeles for

read the guide
#6

of 10

Affordable alternatives to Denver

read the guide
#7

of 10

Best cities on the East Coast

read the guide
#9

of 10

Best cities for a $75k salary

read the guide
#7

of 10

Best cities for a $150k salary

read the guide
#4

of 10

Best cities to leave Boston for

read the guide
#10

of 10

Best cities to buy a home

read the guide
#5

of 10

Best cities where buying beats renting

read the guide
#3

of 10

Best cities to leave DC for

read the guide
#8

of 10

Best cities to leave Minneapolis for

read the guide
#5

of 10

Best cities for a $60k salary

read the guide
#10

of 10

Best cities to live in your 30s

read the guide

01 · the verdict

the verdict

$145

more expensive each month than Austin

Barely costlier than Austin. If Pittsburgh pulls you in, it's the life it offers, not the price tag.
landable, recorded on the pittsburgh entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,473/mo

7% cheaper than Austin(vs $1,583/mo)

02state income tax

3.07%

$256/mo more in state tax than Austin

vs 0% in Austin

03after rent

$6,605/mo

$145 less than Austin

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

04a house here

$223k

49% cheaper than Austin

vs $433k in Austin

05metro size

2.4M

vs 2.5M in Austin

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

161

pleasant days a year, in pittsburgh.

Austin gets 170 pleasant days a year, so you'd be trading some sunshine. A real winter, not a brutal one: 28 days under 20°, vs 1 in Austin.

But the calendar thins out: Austin stays 1.5× busier.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

69/100

23% higher than Austin

vs 56/100 in Austin

Closest outdoor draw: Raccoon Creek State Park, 21.4 mi.

·walk score®

99/100

0% lower than Austin

vs 99/100 in Austin

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

37

12% fewer than Austin

vs 42 nonstops in Austin

04 · see also

in the same ballpark as pittsburgh:

see also

cincinnati

more flight options

turn the page

see also

cleveland

more flight options

turn the page

see also

buffalo

more things to do

turn the page

compare pittsburgh with:

CincinnatiClevelandBuffalo