Lancaster vs Pittsburgh leftover
You'd keep $166 more a month in Pittsburgh
$2,521/mo leftover in Pittsburgh vs $2,355 in Lancaster after tax and rent ($166 more). +$1,992 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Lancaster leftover
$2,355
a month after tax and rent
Pittsburgh leftover
$2,521
+$166 vs Lancaster
Compare Lancaster to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Lancaster.
Monthly gap
Lancaster → Pittsburgh
$166
more / month in Pittsburgh
$2,521 in Pittsburgh · $2,355 in Lancaster · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 128 households moved Lancaster → Pittsburgh (avg AGI $55,844). 90 went the other way. The whole move →
+$166 / mo
| Per month | Lancaster | Pittsburgh | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,375 | $7,492 | +$117 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,788 | $1,977 | +$189 |
| Take-home pay | $5,587 | $5,515 | −$72 |
| Rent | $1,217 | $1,163 | −$54 |
| Getting around | $561 | $497 | −$64 |
| Groceries | $401 | $368 | −$33 |
| Healthcare | $451 | $414 | −$37 |
| Utilities | $251 | $230 | −$21 |
| Everything else | $351 | $322 | −$29 |
| Left over | $2,355 | $2,521 | +$166 |
To break even in Pittsburgh, you'd need to earn
$87,000
Household gross, versus $88,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Lancaster does now.
The tax difference alone
−$1,855
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.2% in Lancaster, 26.4% in Pittsburgh.
More about Pittsburgh
Lancaster, PA in full
A flat 3.07% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,449 and 194 sunny days; commutes average 24 minutes.
Pittsburgh, PA in full
Real city density and a robotics job market, at Rust Belt prices.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Pittsburgh on Pittsburgh wages.
Pittsburgh → Lancaster →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Pittsburgh than Lancaster?
A one-bedroom is about $1,217 in Lancaster versus $1,163 in Pittsburgh. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $166 a month higher in Pittsburgh. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Pittsburgh have state income tax?
Pittsburgh is in Pennsylvania, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 3.00%.
What changes if you move from Lancaster to Pittsburgh?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Pennsylvania tax, rent is priced at the same bedroom count, and leftover is the gap. The from-to page also lists IRS households that already made the move, when that data exists.
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Lancaster and Pittsburgh moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
Rent is Zillow's asking rent for each metro; taxes and living costs are modelled. An estimate, not a quote or tax advice. How this is calculated.