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→Cleveland
Cleveland is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the West Side Market's 100+ years of pierogies and bratwurst, and Lake Erie sunsets that put the coastal hype to shame. The Cuyahoga River caught fire so many times it inspired the Clean Water Act. The Cleveland Orchestra is consistently ranked among the world's best. Summers on the lake are gorgeous, and the food scene is having a real moment.
full dispatch→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$1,473/mo
$1,419/mo
$54/mo less than Pittsburgh (4%)
Median home price
Median home price
$223k
$252k
$29k more than Pittsburgh
State income tax
State income tax
3.1%
4.0%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$6,605/mo
$6,582/mo
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
159 days
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
0 days
0 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
28 days
27 days
days below 20°F per year
Pittsburgh and Cleveland have remarkably similar weather profiles overall.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
69 / 100
63 / 100
6.0 pts behind Pittsburgh
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
37 routes
56 routes
19 more direct routes than Pittsburgh
Metro size
Metro size
2.4M metro
2.2M metro
Pittsburgh has 1.1x fewer events per month than Cleveland.
the verdict
4
Pittsburgh
categories won
2
Cleveland
categories won
Pittsburgh leads on money and wins overall.
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