Atlanta, GA · Birmingham, AL
Birmingham is 24% cheaper than Atlanta overall.
Home Price
Atlanta: $385,000
Birmingham: $215,000
Monthly Rent
Atlanta: $1,576/mo
Birmingham: $898/mo
COL Index
Atlanta: 113
Birmingham: 86
Median Income
Atlanta: $71,400
Birmingham: $55,800
Median Home Price
Monthly Rent (Median)
Median Household Income
Property Tax Rate
Cost of Living Index
100 = national average
Avg. Commute
Unemployment Rate
Median Age
A $100,000 salary in Atlanta has the same purchasing power as $76,106 in Birmingham — based on each city's cost of living index.
Homes in Birmingham cost 44% more (-$170,000 extra). Expect a larger mortgage and down payment.
Renting in Birmingham saves you $678/month — $8,136 per year. Median rent: $1,576/mo in Atlanta vs $898/mo in Birmingham.
On a median-priced home, Atlanta owners pay roughly $3,542/year in property taxes vs $882/year in Birmingham. That's a $2,661 annual difference.
Median household income is $71,400 in Atlanta and $55,800 in Birmingham. Birmingham residents earn 22% more — but remember to factor in cost of living.
Average commute is 31 minutes in Atlanta vs 24 minutes in Birmingham. Over a year, that's 3500 extra minutes (58 hours) of commuting in Atlanta.
To maintain the same lifestyle when moving from Atlanta to Birmingham, here's the salary you'd need:
| Salary in Atlanta | Equivalent in Birmingham | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $38,053 | -$11,947 |
| $75,000 | $57,080 | -$17,920 |
| $100,000 | $76,106 | -$23,894 |
| $150,000 | $114,159 | -$35,841 |
| $200,000 | $152,212 | -$47,788 |
* Calculated using cost of living indices (national average = 100). Does not account for state income tax differences.
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Cost of Living
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Based on cost of living indices, Birmingham is cheaper overall. Atlanta has a COL index of 113 while Birmingham scores 86 (national average = 100).
The median home price in Atlanta is $385,000 vs $215,000 in Birmingham — a difference of $170,000 (44%).
Use the salary equivalence table above. For example, a $100K salary in Atlanta is equivalent to $76,106 in Birmingham in terms of purchasing power.
Birmingham has a lower property tax rate (0.41% vs 0.92%). On a median-priced home, that means paying $882/year vs $3,542/year.
Median monthly rent: $1,576 in Atlanta vs $898 in Birmingham. Annualized: $18,912 vs $10,776.
Atlanta: $71,400/yr. Birmingham: $55,800/yr (Census ACS).
Lower-cost Birmingham typically lets remote-workers keeping a coastal salary stretch further. Higher-cost cities usually win on amenities and labor-market depth.
Numbers are pulled from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI (home values, rent), the U.S. Census Bureau ACS (income), and BEA RPP (cost-of-living index). Each value is timestamped on the page.
Source feeds refresh on their native cadence — hourly for mortgage rates, monthly for ZHVI/ZORI, annually for ACS. Page caches revalidate every 24 hours via Next.js ISR.
No. This page is educational reference using public data and standard formulas. It is not personalized tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a licensed professional for material decisions.
City-level metrics (median home price, median rent, median household income, property tax rate, COL index, commute, unemployment, median age) are sourced from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI[1], Census ACS 5-year estimates[2], BEA Regional Price Parities[3], Tax Foundation[4], and BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics[5].
The Cost of Living Index uses 100 = national average (C2ER methodology[6]): values above 100 indicate a city is more expensive than the national average, below 100 less expensive.
Salary equivalence uses the ratio adjustedSalary = salary × (colDestination / colOrigin). This accounts for cost-of-living differences but does not model state income tax variation, which can be significant.
Annual property tax is computed as medianHomePrice × propertyTaxRate. Actual assessed value may differ from sale price. Effective rates vary within a metro; these are metro-wide medians.
Commute-hours calculations assume 250 working days/year and a round-trip commute. "Tied" in the comparison table means values within ±1% of each other.
Last reviewed reflects the maximum retrievedAt timestamp across every sourced dataset feeding this page. When any source refreshes, the next ISR revalidation (every 24 hours) picks the new date.
Cost of living data sourced from [6] C2ER, [2] U.S. Census Bureau, and [1] Zillow Research. Tax rates from [4] Tax Foundation. Last reviewed .