Alabama: RPP components
BEA 2024 regional context; each category is compared with its own U.S. = 100 benchmark. These are not county price estimates or spending shares.
Black marker: U.S. benchmark = 100 in each row.
LivingCostFacts / state
Alabama cost of living
Alabama has an all-items price parity of 88.8 on the U.S. = 100 scale. Compare the statewide picture with county rents and metro price levels.
BEA 2024 · HUD FY2027 · ACS 2020–2024 · CPI through 2026-10
88.8
All-items price level
BEA 2024; U.S. = 100
$63,999
Median household income
ACS 2020–2024
$209,900
Median home value
Owner-occupied homes, ACS 2020–2024
$1,170
Typical 2BR benchmark
Population-weighted county FMR, FY2027
Read the local picture
Regional Price Parities (RPPs) compare prices across places in the same year. An index of 110 means prices are 10% above the U.S. level; 90 means 10% below. RPP measures relative price levels, while CPI measures price change over time.
Put the benchmark in context
Fair Market Rent (FMR) is HUD’s estimate of the 40th percentile gross rent for standard-quality rental homes occupied by recent movers. It includes rent and most tenant-paid utilities. A household’s actual rent can differ substantially by neighborhood, lease and property.
Monthly rent by bedroom
HUD FY2027 gross monthly FMR; includes most tenant-paid utilities. Dollars per month.
Income after benchmark rent is $49,953 a year: ACS median household income minus 12 months of the population-weighted 2BR FMR. This is a comparison between separate datasets and periods, before taxes and all other expenses; it is not disposable income.
The data in view
Price levels relative to the U.S.
BEA RPP, U.S. = 100 each year. This is not an inflation index.
View chart data
| Period or category | Value |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 88.9 |
| 2009 | 87.8 |
| 2010 | 89.8 |
| 2011 | 90.0 |
| 2012 | 90.6 |
| 2013 | 90.3 |
| 2014 | 90.2 |
| 2015 | 89.7 |
| 2016 | 90.6 |
| 2017 | 90.1 |
| 2018 | 87.4 |
| 2019 | 88.3 |
| 2020 | 87.6 |
| 2021 | 88.1 |
| 2022 | 88.0 |
| 2023 | 89.1 |
| 2024 | 88.8 |
Price levels by category
Each category has its own U.S. benchmark of 100. Components are indexes, not spending shares.
| Category | 2024 RPP |
|---|---|
| All items | 88.8 |
| Goods | 96.4 |
| Housing rents | 61.8 |
| Utilities | 84.6 |
| Other services | 96.7 |
Monthly Fair Market Rent by bedroom
HUD 40th percentile gross rent for standard-quality units; includes tenant-paid utilities except telephone, cable and internet. These are benchmarks, not asking-rent medians.
| Home size | FY2027 monthly gross rent |
|---|---|
| Studio | $949 |
| 1 bedroom | $1,010 |
| 2 bedrooms | $1,170 |
| 3 bedrooms | $1,500 |
| 4 bedrooms | $1,728 |
County cost comparison
Income: ACS 2020–2024. Rent: HUD FY2027. Rent / income = 12 × 2BR FMR ÷ median household income; it does not measure actual renter burden.
| County or equivalent | 2BR rent / month | Median household income | Rent / income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autauga County | $1,150 | $72,481 | 19.0% |
| Baldwin County | $1,434 | $78,775 | 21.8% |
| Barbour County | $921 | $46,042 | 24.0% |
| Bibb County | $1,375 | $52,541 | 31.4% |
| Blount County | $1,375 | $64,190 | 25.7% |
| Bullock County | $921 | $31,310 | 35.3% |
| Butler County | $959 | $44,755 | 25.7% |
| Calhoun County | $1,010 | $55,029 | 22.0% |
| Chambers County | $1,091 | $49,656 | 26.4% |
| Cherokee County | $986 | $53,863 | 22.0% |
| Chilton County | $1,038 | $65,603 | 19.0% |
| Choctaw County | $921 | $47,813 | 23.1% |
| Clarke County | $921 | $49,249 | 22.4% |
| Clay County | $921 | $55,250 | 20.0% |
| Cleburne County | $1,004 | $55,345 | 21.8% |
| Coffee County | $1,098 | $68,353 | 19.3% |
| Colbert County | $1,085 | $60,628 | 21.5% |
| Conecuh County | $921 | $41,327 | 26.7% |
| Coosa County | $921 | $57,355 | 19.3% |
| Covington County | $921 | $52,456 | 21.1% |
| Crenshaw County | $921 | $48,560 | 22.8% |
| Cullman County | $1,034 | $62,656 | 19.8% |
| Dale County | $921 | $54,963 | 20.1% |
| Dallas County | $945 | $35,627 | 31.8% |
| DeKalb County | $921 | $51,204 | 21.6% |
| Elmore County | $1,150 | $78,243 | 17.6% |
| Escambia County | $921 | $48,225 | 22.9% |
| Etowah County | $975 | $54,563 | 21.4% |
| Fayette County | $921 | $49,488 | 22.3% |
| Franklin County | $921 | $53,338 | 20.7% |
| Geneva County | $966 | $52,771 | 22.0% |
| Greene County | $1,163 | $29,200 | 47.8% |
| Hale County | $1,165 | $39,250 | 35.6% |
| Henry County | $921 | $59,931 | 18.4% |
| Houston County | $966 | $58,626 | 19.8% |
| Jackson County | $921 | $51,908 | 21.3% |
| Jefferson County | $1,375 | $66,388 | 24.9% |
| Lamar County | $921 | $50,000 | 22.1% |
| Lauderdale County | $1,085 | $62,649 | 20.8% |
| Lawrence County | $1,023 | $66,071 | 18.6% |
| Lee County | $1,277 | $65,824 | 23.3% |
| Limestone County | $1,341 | $83,629 | 19.2% |
| Lowndes County | $1,150 | $37,052 | 37.2% |
| Macon County | $981 | $43,707 | 26.9% |
| Madison County | $1,341 | $86,499 | 18.6% |
| Marengo County | $921 | $43,825 | 25.2% |
| Marion County | $921 | $50,088 | 22.1% |
| Marshall County | $925 | $62,571 | 17.7% |
| Mobile County | $1,139 | $58,880 | 23.2% |
| Monroe County | $921 | $42,292 | 26.1% |
| Montgomery County | $1,150 | $59,386 | 23.2% |
| Morgan County | $1,023 | $68,845 | 17.8% |
| Perry County | $921 | $37,654 | 29.4% |
| Pickens County | $921 | $46,274 | 23.9% |
| Pike County | $1,055 | $48,677 | 26.0% |
| Randolph County | $923 | $52,338 | 21.2% |
| Russell County | $1,212 | $51,197 | 28.4% |
| Shelby County | $1,375 | $97,961 | 16.8% |
| St. Clair County | $1,375 | $77,463 | 21.3% |
| Sumter County | $921 | $33,310 | 33.2% |
| Talladega County | $977 | $57,776 | 20.3% |
| Tallapoosa County | $994 | $59,356 | 20.1% |
| Tuscaloosa County | $1,165 | $66,231 | 21.1% |
| Walker County | $949 | $56,509 | 20.2% |
| Washington County | $921 | $61,042 | 18.1% |
| Wilcox County | $921 | $40,640 | 27.2% |
| Winston County | $921 | $57,256 | 19.3% |
Metros with member counties in Alabama
BEA 2024, U.S. = 100. Rent is a population-weighted mean of member-county benchmarks where available.
| Metro area | All-items RPP | Housing RPP | 2BR rent / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anniston-Oxford, AL | 85.9 | 54.7 | $1,010 |
| Auburn-Opelika, AL | 87.9 | 62.1 | $1,249 |
| Birmingham, AL | 91.6 | 71.9 | $1,339 |
| Columbus, GA-AL | 89.3 | 61.2 | $1,205 |
| Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL | 94.7 | 89.2 | $1,434 |
| Decatur, AL | 87.2 | 58.1 | $1,023 |
| Dothan, AL | 83.8 | 46.9 | $961 |
| Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL | 84.8 | 47.7 | $1,085 |
| Gadsden, AL | 85.7 | 53.7 | $975 |
| Huntsville, AL | 93.1 | 77.9 | $1,341 |
| Mobile, AL | 88.1 | 60.1 | $1,139 |
| Montgomery, AL | 89.7 | 64.3 | $1,150 |
| Tuscaloosa, AL | 87.7 | 58.2 | $1,149 |