on $100k a year, leaving Mobile

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Pittsburgh, PA cityscape

from mobile

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

$10

pricier each month than Mobile

Pittsburgh edges out a little pricier. Close enough that the decision rides on the days, not the dollars.
landable, recorded on the pittsburgh entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,473/mo

13% more expensive than Mobile(vs $1,302/mo)

02state income tax

3.07%

$161/mo less in state tax than Mobile

vs 5% in Mobile

03after rent

$6,605/mo

$10 less than Mobile

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

04a house here

$223k

15% more expensive than Mobile

vs $194k in Mobile

05metro size

2.4M

vs 412k in Mobile

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

161

pleasant days a year, in pittsburgh.

Mobile has the edge here, logging 225 pleasant days a year. Cold snaps are part of the year: 28 days below 20° here, 0 in Mobile.

A real upgrade on things to do: 3.3× Mobile's pace.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

69/100

17% higher than Mobile

vs 59/100 in Mobile

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

·walk score®

99/100

43% higher than Mobile

vs 69/100 in Mobile

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

37

640% more than Mobile

vs 5 nonstops in Mobile

04 · see also

same energy as pittsburgh, different zip code:

compare pittsburgh with: