on $100k a year, leaving San Jose

change
Pittsburgh, PA cityscape

instead of san jose

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

$2,517

under San Jose, every month

Pittsburgh sits well below San Jose on cost. Same paycheck, a noticeably lighter month.
landable, recorded on the pittsburgh entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,473/mo

58% cheaper than San Jose(vs $3,470/mo)

02state income tax

3.07%

$519/mo less in state tax than San Jose

vs 9.3% in San Jose

03after rent

$6,605/mo

$2,517 more than San Jose

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

04a house here

$223k

88% cheaper than San Jose

vs $1796k in San Jose

05metro size

2.4M

vs 1.9M in San Jose

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

161

pleasant days a year, in pittsburgh.

San Jose edges ahead with 283 pleasant days. Winter has bite, though: 28 days drop below 20° vs San Jose's 0.

About as much going on as in San Jose.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

69/100

1% lower than San Jose

vs 70/100 in San Jose

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

·walk score®

99/100

4% higher than San Jose

vs 95/100 in San Jose

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

37

28% more than San Jose

vs 29 nonstops in San Jose

04 · see also

if pittsburgh appeals, also worth a look:

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