Austin, TX vs Tuscaloosa, AL
Moving from Austin to Tuscaloosa? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($428,524 → $223,201 median home) and taxes.
Austin vs Tuscaloosa at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Austin, TX, you'd need about $90,670 in Tuscaloosa, AL (−$9,330).
Livability — Austin, TX: 70 · Tuscaloosa, AL: 74 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,450 sqft in Austin vs 4,591 sqft in Tuscaloosa ($204 vs $109 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Austin, TX | Tuscaloosa, AL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,620 | $17,820 | −$1,800 |
| Groceries | $4,647 | $4,729 | +$83 |
| Transportation | $3,675 | $3,465 | −$210 |
| Utilities | $1,836 | $1,884 | +$48 |
| Insurance | $3,600 | $2,400 | −$1,200 |
| Taxes | $9,558 | $8,901 | −$657 |
| Total | $42,936 | $39,199 | −$3,737 |
Side by side
| Metric | Austin, TX | Tuscaloosa, AL |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 89.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.30% | 5.59% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 14.8% | 13.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $5.07 |
| Median home price | $428,524 | $223,201 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.6× | 3.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -6.0% | 0.4% |
| Price per square foot | $204 | $109 |
| Median rent | $1,635 | $1,485 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 8.6% | 9.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.20% | 9.25% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 5.00% |
| Property tax rate | 1.71% | 0.33% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,500 | $7,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.70% |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 24 |
| Home insurance / yr | $3,600 | $2,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,100 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $900 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 17.0 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.00 | 2.95 |
| Natural gas / mo | $52 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $134 | $117 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $76 |
| Violent crime /100k | 430 | 450 |
| Avg summer high °F | 96 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 38 | 33 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 36.3 | 56.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.2 | 1.4 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 60% | 62% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |