$100k a year, no longer in Birmingham

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Pittsburgh, PA cityscape

next stop after birmingham

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

01 · the verdict

the verdict

$95

less monthly outlay than Birmingham

Pittsburgh and Birmingham land close on cost. The reasons to move are about how you'd live, not what you'd save.
landable, recorded on the pittsburgh entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,473/mo

5% more expensive than Birmingham(vs $1,407/mo)

02state income tax

3.07%

$161/mo less in state tax than Birmingham

vs 5% in Birmingham

03after rent

$6,605/mo

$95 more than Birmingham

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

04a house here

$223k

14% cheaper than Birmingham

vs $261k in Birmingham

05metro size

2.4M

vs 1.2M in Birmingham

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

161

pleasant days a year, in pittsburgh.

Birmingham actually gets more: 171 pleasant days a year. Winter shows up, though: 28 days below 20° vs Birmingham's 4.

Things to do run about even with Birmingham.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

69/100

13% higher than Birmingham

vs 61/100 in Birmingham

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

·walk score®

99/100

25% higher than Birmingham

vs 79/100 in Birmingham

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

37

85% more than Birmingham

vs 20 nonstops in Birmingham

04 · see also

cities that play in pittsburgh's register:

compare pittsburgh with: