$100k a year, no longer in Lakeland

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Pittsburgh, PA cityscape

instead of lakeland

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

$106

under Lakeland, every month

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

20% cheaper than Lakeland(vs $1,834/mo)

02state income tax

3.07%

$256/mo more in state tax than Lakeland

vs 0% in Lakeland

03after rent

$6,605/mo

$106 more than Lakeland

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

04a house here

$223k

26% cheaper than Lakeland

vs $301k in Lakeland

05metro size

2.4M

vs 818k in Lakeland

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

161

pleasant days a year, in pittsburgh.

Lakeland edges ahead with 206 pleasant days. Winter has bite, though: 28 days drop below 20° vs Lakeland's 0.

A real upgrade on things to do: 6.6× Lakeland's pace.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

69/100

44% higher than Lakeland

vs 48/100 in Lakeland

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

·walk score®

99/100

50% higher than Lakeland

vs 66/100 in Lakeland

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

37

46% fewer than Lakeland

vs 68 nonstops in Lakeland

04 · see also

if pittsburgh appeals, also worth a look:

compare pittsburgh with: