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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Cincinnati to Pittsburgh

Cincinnati, OH vs Pittsburgh, PA

Simple answer

You'd likely save $53 a month in Pittsburgh.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is housing prices. The BEA housing price parity differs by 15.6 points (Cincinnati 87.6, Pittsburgh 72.0).

Ohio taxes wages at a flat 2.75%. Pennsylvania taxes wages at a flat 3.07%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.0 percentage points, higher in Ohio. The effective property tax gap is 0.07 percentage points, higher in Ohio.

After a move from Ohio to Pennsylvania, those two example households keep the same benefit status labels. A different income can still split Medicaid and marketplace credits.

A $75,000 salary in Cincinnati lines up with about $74,450 in Pittsburgh on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Cincinnati

Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,442
HUD area
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,203
All-items price parity
95.4
Goods price parity
93.8
Utilities price parity
91.0
Mean commute
25.1 min
Median household income
$81,489

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,389
HUD area
Pittsburgh, PA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,083
All-items price parity
94.7
Goods price parity
100.7
Utilities price parity
107.7
Mean commute
26.3 min
Median household income
$77,214

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$74,450

Salary in Pittsburgh that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$75,648

Gross salary in Pittsburgh whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$72,243

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxOhioPennsylvania
State income tax on wages2.75% flat3.07% flat
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20267.3%6.3%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.22%1.16%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $4,899 a year in Ohio and $4,631 in Pennsylvania. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Pennsylvania

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in Ohio and once in Pennsylvania. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    CincinnatiLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    CincinnatiLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • WIC

    CincinnatiLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • School meals

    CincinnatiLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    CincinnatiMaybe

    PittsburghMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    CincinnatiLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    CincinnatiLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    CincinnatiUnlikely

    PittsburghUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    CincinnatiLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • SSI

    CincinnatiUnlikely

    PittsburghUnlikely

At $40,000 the status labels match. A single adult around $18,000 is where Medicaid expansion and the marketplace coverage gap usually split.

Medicaid guide for Pennsylvania · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Cincinnati

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Cincinnati.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.