Pittsburgh lags badly in median household income (loan, unemployment)

[Blue Shift]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Not everyone needs or wants a BMW or a massive 2,000-square-foot home.

I would rather live more comfortably on a lower salary in a low-stress city like Pittsburgh than still be struggling to stay afloat the way I was in Northern Virginia a decade ago when I lived there.

Agreed.

[Boomchee]

There's a considerable amount of free income floating around the 412 if you know where to look. Outside of my main job which pays o.k. (60k/yr) I also bounce which gives me about an extra 15-20 a year tax free. I jitney/make runs at various times which is also a cash business. I considered doing the ride share thing but, I didn't want to get taxed on a side hustle. At the end of the day if you have the drive you can make as much as you want. That's what this country is all about.

[Independentthinking83]

Originally Posted by Blue Shift

Agreed.

SCR is the exception not the norm. If he was the norm Pittsburgh wouldn’t be doing another “border guard bob” like campaign to keep college graduates from leaving the area.

He always uses Northern Virginia as an example because that is what he knows. That is also a very extreme example as it is probably one if not the most expensive cities in the US. There are a lot of cities with the same, lower or not much more COL that pay significantly higher in salaries. Raleigh is one of them for sure. More pay and roughly the same or a little bit more than Pittsburgh. However it is not 10s of thousands more.

I’m glad he’s happy. That’s the most important thing. I am just pointing out that he’s the exception not the rule and the northern Virginia example is the most extreme you will get. I know somebody working for PNC that was in Pittsburgh and was given an opportunity to work for their growing Charlotte office. He went from living living near Shiloh street in Mt. Washington to living on a lakefront community in one of the suburbs down there. His pay increased by 50K a year just to take a promotion with pnc in Charlotte. He fishes on the weekend in his boat and enjoys the outdoors.

[Joe_P]

This is no mystery, Raleigh has long been growing and with its long established hub of technology, it has been able to grow - and without the legacy "baggage" of an existing population base that lost thousands of jobs etc.

The dynamics are different. People either are not bothering to learn about this, are intentionally being disingenuous.

[Independentthinking83]

Originally Posted by Joe_P

This is no mystery, Raleigh has long been growing and with its long established hub of technology, it has been able to grow - and without the legacy "baggage" of an existing population base that lost thousands of jobs etc.

The dynamics are different. People either are not bothering to learn about this, are intentionally being disingenuous.

Well you live in Atlanta.

Cost of overall living in Atlanta is 0.6% less than Pittsburgh.
Median Household salary in Pittsburgh is $45,831
Median household salary in Atlanta is $55,279

Atlanta is 52% black and 37% white
Pittsburgh is 67% white and 23% black.

Monthly rental in Pittsburgh is $922 and in Atlanta is $1,099.

Workforce participation is also roughly 5% higher than Pittsburgh.

So Atlanta is 0.6% less on cost of living, average household income is $10,000 higher than Pittsburgh and over 50% of the population is black.

Moving to Atlanta puts more money in your pocket with wages and cost of living savings. It’s a no brainer and why people leave Pittsburgh especially the black population

[PghSportsGuy420]

Originally Posted by S6T1R

Go to college, major in business, engineering, IT or anything medical related. Make at least around $50-60K fresh out of college as a 22 year old, or more in a few more years if you’re doing an advanced/graduate degree.

True though that Pittsburgh companies don’t seem to pay a whole lot compared to other cities but pretty low COL.

You can hit six figures by your mid-thirties here working in software at the old corporate standbys, let alone a tech company.

Originally Posted by Independentthinking83

Pittsburgh is great if you can work for a company based out of town and not have to deal with the local economy and wages. If you can work for a company out of NY or Philly and live here then life is golden. Trying to get a job with a local company will not pay the same and below market for a lot of small towns even in the Midwest.

A co-worker of mine was working for Highmark doing healthcare analytics and was making over $130K a year when she left. That was at 37 or 38.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Independentthinking83

Well you live in Atlanta.

Cost of overall living in Atlanta is 0.6% less than Pittsburgh.
Median Household salary in Pittsburgh is $45,831
Median household salary in Atlanta is $55,279

Atlanta is 52% black and 37% white
Pittsburgh is 67% white and 23% black.

Monthly rental in Pittsburgh is $922 and in Atlanta is $1,099.

Workforce participation is also roughly 5% higher than Pittsburgh.

So Atlanta is 0.6% less on cost of living, average household income is $10,000 higher than Pittsburgh and over 50% of the population is black.

Moving to Atlanta puts more money in your pocket with wages and cost of living savings. It’s a no brainer and why people leave Pittsburgh especially the black population

Well there are a lot of other things to consider. Atlanta's crime rate is WAY higher than Pittsburgh.

If I was a black man however, I gotta be honest. I would seriously consider Atlanta. Even when I go to the airport there are TONS and TONS of black professionals. It is the norm there. The airport runs very well considering how super busy it is.

Then the weather. I am thinking Atlanta is pretty hot and humid much of the year.

[Joe_P]

Well you live in Atlanta.

I wasn't talking about Atlanta it's not relevant to my response. DC is still expensive.

Cost of overall living in Atlanta is 0.6% less than Pittsburgh.

The COL living would only be cheaper in Atlanta if one lives further out (the metro is sprawling and includes many more counties than Pittsburgh).

[Independentthinking83]

Originally Posted by PghSportsGuy420

You can hit six figures by your mid-thirties here working in software at the old corporate standbys, let alone a tech company.




A co-worker of mine was working for Highmark doing healthcare analytics and was making over $130K a year when she left. That was at 37 or 38.

Then why did she leave? I knew two people who worked there and were in their IT dept. Pay was low.

Originally Posted by gg

Well there are a lot of other things to consider. Atlanta's crime rate is WAY higher than Pittsburgh.

If I was a black man however, I gotta be honest. I would seriously consider Atlanta. Even when I go to the airport there are TONS and TONS of black professionals. It is the norm there. The airport runs very well considering how super busy it is.

Then the weather. I am thinking Atlanta is pretty hot and humid much of the year.

Most do. There are a lot of people from here down there. Feel free to show me stats that crime is so much worse in Atlanta.

Originally Posted by Joe_P

I wasn't talking about Atlanta it's not relevant to my response. DC is still expensive.



The COL living would only be cheaper in Atlanta if one lives further out (the metro is sprawling and includes many more counties than Pittsburgh).

I did a comparison of city vs city. Those numbers and stats are from the US Census. Atlanta is cheaper than Pittsburgh and salaries pay more.

And I mentioned Atlanta because you live there and was pointing out it is a much stronger area economically with a lower cost of living than Pittsburgh.

[PghSportsGuy420]

Originally Posted by Independentthinking83

Then why did she leave? I knew two people who worked there and were in their IT dept. Pay was low.

She didn’t tell me what she’s making here, but generally when people leave a job for another job, the new job pays better. Use your head.

IT is a big tent. People who shuffle computers around aren’t going to get paid what the software developers and data analytics people make.