$100k a year, no longer in Columbus

change
Pittsburgh, PA cityscape

from columbus

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

$115

less monthly outlay than Columbus

Pittsburgh and Columbus 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

3% cheaper than Columbus(vs $1,511/mo)

02state income tax

3.07%

$77/mo less in state tax than Columbus

vs 3.99% in Columbus

03after rent

$6,605/mo

$115 more than Columbus

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

04a house here

$223k

36% cheaper than Columbus

vs $350k in Columbus

05metro size

2.4M

vs 2.2M in Columbus

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

161

pleasant days a year, in pittsburgh.

Columbus has the edge here, logging 171 pleasant days a year.

Noticeably quieter than Columbus. About 32% fewer events on a typical month.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

69/100

21% higher than Columbus

vs 57/100 in Columbus

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

·walk score®

99/100

16% higher than Columbus

vs 85/100 in Columbus

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

37

16% more than Columbus

vs 32 nonstops in Columbus

04 · see also

neighbors of pittsburgh on the map of tradeoffs:

compare pittsburgh with: