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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Dallas to Pittsburgh

Dallas, TX vs Pittsburgh, PA

Simple answer

You'd likely save $418 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 45.9 points (Dallas 117.9, Pittsburgh 72.0).

Texas has no tax on wages. Pennsylvania taxes wages at a flat 3.07%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.9 percentage points, higher in Texas. The effective property tax gap is 0.15 percentage points, higher in Texas.

After a move from Texas to Pennsylvania, these benefit results change for a family of four at $40,000 and a single adult at $18,000: Marketplace premium tax credits, Medicaid and CHIP.

A $75,000 salary in Dallas lines up with about $68,875 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.

Dallas

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,807
HUD area
Dallas, TX HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,718
All-items price parity
103.1
Goods price parity
102.8
Utilities price parity
90.7
Mean commute
28.8 min
Median household income
$92,733

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

$68,875

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

After state and federal tax

$72,006

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

Rent only

$57,651

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

TaxTexasPennsylvania
State income tax on wagesNo wage tax3.07% flat
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20268.2%6.3%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.31%1.16%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $5,246 a year in Texas 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 Texas and once in Pennsylvania. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    DallasLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    DallasLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • WIC

    DallasLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • School meals

    DallasLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    DallasMaybe

    PittsburghMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    DallasLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    DallasLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    DallasLikely eligible

    PittsburghUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    DallasLikely eligible

    PittsburghLikely eligible

  • SSI

    DallasUnlikely

    PittsburghUnlikely

Marketplace premium tax credits changes. In Dallas the result is “Likely inside the 2026 subsidy range.” In Pittsburgh it is “Unlikely — Medicaid is the closer program.” Pennsylvania expanded Medicaid, and this income is in the Medicaid range. Marketplace subsidies are usually not the program in that case.

Medicaid guide for Pennsylvania · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Dallas

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

Nearby metros

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