with $100k coming in, swapping out of Des Moines

change
Pittsburgh, PA cityscape

next stop after des moines

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

$40

cheaper each month than Des Moines

A near-tie on cost. What separates Pittsburgh is the life around the numbers.
landable, recorded on the pittsburgh entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,473/mo

16% more expensive than Des Moines(vs $1,268/mo)

02state income tax

3.07%

$244/mo less in state tax than Des Moines

vs 6% in Des Moines

03after rent

$6,605/mo

$40 more than Des Moines

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

04a house here

$223k

26% cheaper than Des Moines

vs $300k in Des Moines

05metro size

2.4M

vs 737k in Des Moines

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

161

pleasant days a year, in pittsburgh.

Des Moines only logs 151 pleasant days.

1.7× the events of Des Moines, and the calendar shows it.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

69/100

25% higher than Des Moines

vs 55/100 in Des Moines

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

·walk score®

99/100

27% higher than Des Moines

vs 78/100 in Des Moines

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

37

118% more than Des Moines

vs 17 nonstops in Des Moines

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