01 · the cities
Pittsburgh
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.
full dispatch→Cincinnati
Cincinnati is chili served on spaghetti (Skyline and Gold Star will fight you about which is better), German heritage in Over-the-Rhine's beer halls, and a riverfront that looks straight across at Kentucky. OTR's brick warehouses have become one of the best urban revitalizations in the country. The Reds play in baseball's oldest professional city. Pronounce it correctly and the locals warm up fast.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$1,473/mo
$1,549/mo
$76/mo more than Pittsburgh (5%)
Median home price
Median home price
$223k
$316k
$93k more than Pittsburgh
State income tax
State income tax
3.1%
4.0%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$6,605/mo
$6,452/mo
Pittsburgh has $153/mo more gross after rent at $100k
Gross left after rent reflects state income tax but not federal, based on $100k salary. Enter your salary to find your ideal city.
03 · the weather
Pleasant days/yr
Pleasant days/yr
161 days
162 days
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
0 days
3 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
28 days
26 days
days below 20°F per year
Pittsburgh and Cincinnati have remarkably similar weather profiles overall.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
69 / 100
72 / 100
3.0 pts ahead of Pittsburgh
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
37 routes
47 routes
10 more direct routes than Pittsburgh
Metro size
Metro size
2.4M metro
2.3M metro
Pittsburgh has 1.1x fewer events per month than Cincinnati.
the verdict
4
Pittsburgh
categories won
2
Cincinnati
categories won
Pittsburgh wins on money. Cincinnati has the edge on lifestyle.
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