01 · the cities
Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa is the gateway to Sonoma wine country, less polished than Napa but more lived-in. Charles Schulz lived here and the Snoopy museum is a delight. The Russian River redwoods are 30 minutes west. The city itself has rebuilt impressively after the 2017 fires, with a downtown that mixes wineries, breweries, and farm-to-table restaurants. Cooler than San Francisco in summer.
full dispatch→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→02 · the money
Median rent
Median rent
$2,597/mo
$1,473/mo
$1,124/mo less than Santa Rosa (76%)
Median home price
Median home price
$817k
$223k
$595k less than Santa Rosa
State income tax
State income tax
9.3%
3.1%
Gross left after rent
Gross left after rent
$4,961/mo
$6,605/mo
Pittsburgh has $1,644/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
254 days
161 days
93 fewer than Santa Rosa
Extreme heat days
Extreme heat days
28 days
0 days
days above 95°F per year
Extreme cold days
Extreme cold days
0 days
28 days
days below 20°F per year
Santa Rosa has 28 more days above 95°F each year than Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh drops below 20°F on 28 more days per year than Santa Rosa.
04 · the life
OutdoorScore
OutdoorScore
69 / 100
69 / 100
Nonstop flights
Nonstop flights
4 routes
37 routes
33 more direct routes than Santa Rosa
Metro size
Metro size
482k metro
2.4M metro
Santa Rosa has 79.0x fewer events per month than Pittsburgh.
the verdict
2
Santa Rosa
categories won
6
Pittsburgh
categories won
Pittsburgh wins on money and lifestyle. Santa Rosa has the edge on weather.
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