Denver, CO vs Tuscaloosa, AL
Moving from Denver to Tuscaloosa? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($573,221 → $223,201 median home) and taxes.
Denver 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 Denver, CO, you'd need about $84,248 in Tuscaloosa, AL (−$15,752).
Livability — Denver, CO: 52 · Tuscaloosa, AL: 74 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,657 sqft in Denver vs 4,591 sqft in Tuscaloosa ($302 vs $109 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Denver, CO | Tuscaloosa, AL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $22,920 | $17,820 | −$5,100 |
| Groceries | $5,079 | $4,729 | −$350 |
| Transportation | $4,050 | $3,465 | −$585 |
| Utilities | $1,788 | $1,884 | +$96 |
| Insurance | $2,800 | $2,400 | −$400 |
| Taxes | $9,828 | $8,901 | −$927 |
| Total | $46,464 | $39,199 | −$7,266 |
Side by side
| Metric | Denver, CO | Tuscaloosa, AL |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 105.8 | 89.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.26% | 5.59% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.7% | 13.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.02 | $5.07 |
| Median home price | $573,221 | $223,201 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.9× | 3.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.9% | 0.4% |
| Price per square foot | $302 | $109 |
| Median rent | $1,910 | $1,485 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.7% | 9.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.77% | 9.25% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.40% | 5.00% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.33% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $7,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.79% | 0.70% |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 24 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,800 | $2,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,000 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $550 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.5 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 2.95 |
| Natural gas / mo | $65 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $120 | $117 |
| Home internet / mo | $87 | $76 |
| Violent crime /100k | 490 | 450 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 18 | 33 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 15.4 | 56.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 49.0 | 1.4 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 69% | 62% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |