When Pittsburgh’s Public Source held community listening sessions across the Pittsburgh region this spring, affordability kept surfacing as a shared concern, from taxes to transit to everyday costs. Here in the newsroom, some recent price changes have shocked us — particularly as warm weather gets us thinking about vacation drives and wave pool dives.
Are rising prices a real problem or is the “affordability crisis” a hoax, as President Donald Trump has suggested?
Let’s weigh the evidence together.
If you commute into town, you may or may not be feeling lighter in the wallet.
- A hike: Regular gasoline this month was above $4 a gallon, up around 75 cents from last year.
- Still a steal: A Pittsburgh Regional Transit full fare is $2.75, good for three hours and as many transfers as you can fit in, as it has been since 2021.
But if living close to the job hubs of Downtown and Oakland is saving you at the pump, it may have burned you through the property taxes you just paid.
- A hike: The City of Pittsburgh jacked its levy up 20% to 9.67 mills, or $9.67 per $1,000 in taxable assessed value.
- Still a steal: Pine Township kept its millage at 0.998, or just under a dollar per $1,000, where it has been for at least a decade.
On the other hand, beating the heat this summer will be much more expensive on one side of the city line than the other.
- A hike: An Allegheny County pool pass this year costs $235 for a family of four living in the county — up from $150 last year.
- Still a steal: A pass to the City of Pittsburgh pools is still just $60 for a family living within its borders, as it has been for years, and again includes the Oliver Bath House.
If you’ve recently had a sticker-shock moment, or a “wow-that’s-a-good-deal” revelation, give us your fill-in-the-blank answers below, and please provide some basic information about yourself. We may publish any input we receive, except contact information.
