$100k a year, no longer in Columbia

change
Pittsburgh, PA cityscape

if you left columbia

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

$364

less monthly outlay than Columbia

Pittsburgh is the easier version of your monthly budget. Lower rent, lighter monthly outlay.
landable, recorded on the pittsburgh entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,473/mo

5% cheaper than Columbia(vs $1,551/mo)

02state income tax

3.07%

$286/mo less in state tax than Columbia

vs 6.5% in Columbia

03after rent

$6,605/mo

$364 more than Columbia

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

04a house here

$223k

13% cheaper than Columbia

vs $255k in Columbia

05metro size

2.4M

vs 857k in Columbia

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

161

pleasant days a year, in pittsburgh.

Columbia gets 189 pleasant days a year, so you'd be trading some sunshine. Winter has bite, though: 28 days drop below 20° vs Columbia's 2.

A month here packs 4.2× the events of Columbia.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

69/100

25% higher than Columbia

vs 55/100 in Columbia

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

·walk score®

99/100

16% higher than Columbia

vs 85/100 in Columbia

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

37

270% more than Columbia

vs 10 nonstops in Columbia

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