same $100k income, fresh start from Portland

change
Pittsburgh, PA cityscape

swapping out of portland

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

$1,182

under Portland, every month

Move to Pittsburgh and the monthly math gets easier. Portland's rent is the headline; Pittsburgh's is a footnote.
landable, recorded on the pittsburgh entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,473/mo

36% cheaper than Portland(vs $2,285/mo)

02state income tax

3.07%

$369/mo less in state tax than Portland

vs 7.5% in Portland

03after rent

$6,605/mo

$1,182 more than Portland

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

04a house here

$223k

59% cheaper than Portland

vs $543k in Portland

05metro size

2.4M

vs 566k in Portland

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

161

pleasant days a year, in pittsburgh.

Portland barely cracks 145 pleasant ones.

Nights and weekends fill up faster. 2.5× more on the calendar than Portland.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

69/100

3% lower than Portland

vs 71/100 in Portland

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

·walk score®

99/100

1% higher than Portland

vs 98/100 in Portland

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

37

1750% more than Portland

vs 2 nonstops in Portland

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