with $100k coming in, swapping out of Chicago

change
Pittsburgh, PA cityscape

instead of chicago

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

$854

below Chicago's monthly cost

Pittsburgh is the kind of cheap that changes the math. Same salary, a different life on the other side.
landable, recorded on the pittsburgh entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,473/mo

32% cheaper than Chicago(vs $2,170/mo)

02state income tax

3.07%

$157/mo less in state tax than Chicago

vs 4.95% in Chicago

03after rent

$6,605/mo

$854 more than Chicago

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

04a house here

$223k

39% cheaper than Chicago

vs $365k in Chicago

05metro size

2.4M

vs 9.3M in Chicago

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

161

pleasant days a year, in pittsburgh.

Chicago keeps to 153 pleasant days a year.

But the calendar thins out: Chicago stays 16.4× busier.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

69/100

1% lower than Chicago

vs 70/100 in Chicago

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

·walk score®

99/100

1% lower than Chicago

vs 100/100 in Chicago

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

37

83% fewer than Chicago

vs 217 nonstops in Chicago

04 · see also

if pittsburgh appeals, also worth a look:

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