with $100k coming in, swapping out of Chattanooga

change
Pittsburgh, PA cityscape

if you left chattanooga

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

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01 · the verdict

the verdict

$204

more expensive each month than Chattanooga

Pittsburgh costs meaningfully more. Whether it earns that back in the day-to-day is the actual question.
landable, recorded on the pittsburgh entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,473/mo

3% cheaper than Chattanooga(vs $1,524/mo)

02state income tax

3.07%

$256/mo more in state tax than Chattanooga

vs 0% in Chattanooga

03after rent

$6,605/mo

$204 less than Chattanooga

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

04a house here

$223k

31% cheaper than Chattanooga

vs $322k in Chattanooga

05metro size

2.4M

vs 580k in Chattanooga

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

161

pleasant days a year, in pittsburgh.

Chattanooga actually gets more: 167 pleasant days a year. Winter shows up, though: 28 days below 20° vs Chattanooga's 5.

A real upgrade on things to do: 3.4× Chattanooga's pace.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

69/100

0% lower than Chattanooga

vs 69/100 in Chattanooga

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

·walk score®

99/100

21% higher than Chattanooga

vs 82/100 in Chattanooga

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

37

363% more than Chattanooga

vs 8 nonstops in Chattanooga

04 · see also

same energy as pittsburgh, different zip code:

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