$100k salary, packing up from Lafayette

change
Pittsburgh, PA cityscape

swapping out of lafayette

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

in our guides

#5

of 10

Best affordable cities to live car-free

read the guide
#5

of 10

Best affordable cities to retire

read the guide
#7

of 10

Best cities for retirees who love the outdoors

read the guide
#6

of 10

Best cities for families

read the guide
#10

of 10

Best cities for families who love the outdoors

read the guide
#9

of 10

Best cities for mild four-season weather

read the guide
#9

of 10

Cheapest cities in America

read the guide
#4

of 10

Best cities to leave New York for

read the guide
#8

of 10

Best cities to leave Los Angeles for

read the guide
#6

of 10

Affordable alternatives to Denver

read the guide
#7

of 10

Best cities on the East Coast

read the guide
#9

of 10

Best cities for a $75k salary

read the guide
#7

of 10

Best cities for a $150k salary

read the guide
#4

of 10

Best cities to leave Boston for

read the guide
#10

of 10

Best cities to buy a home

read the guide
#5

of 10

Best cities where buying beats renting

read the guide
#3

of 10

Best cities to leave DC for

read the guide
#8

of 10

Best cities to leave Minneapolis for

read the guide
#5

of 10

Best cities for a $60k salary

read the guide
#10

of 10

Best cities to live in your 30s

read the guide

01 · the verdict

the verdict

$146

the monthly cost of moving past Lafayette

Almost a wash on cost. The case for Pittsburgh is about what you'd do there, not what you'd save.
landable, recorded on the pittsburgh entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,473/mo

11% more expensive than Lafayette(vs $1,332/mo)

02state income tax

3.07%

$6/mo more in state tax than Lafayette

vs 3% in Lafayette

03after rent

$6,605/mo

$146 less than Lafayette

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

04a house here

$223k

11% more expensive than Lafayette

vs $200k in Lafayette

05metro size

2.4M

vs 414k in Lafayette

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

161

pleasant days a year, in pittsburgh.

Lafayette edges ahead with 211 pleasant days. A real winter, not a brutal one: 28 days under 20°, vs 0 in Lafayette.

A month here packs 15.8× the events of Lafayette.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

69/100

60% higher than Lafayette

vs 43/100 in Lafayette

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

·walk score®

99/100

16% higher than Lafayette

vs 85/100 in Lafayette

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

37

1133% more than Lafayette

vs 3 nonstops in Lafayette

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