Sacramento, CA vs Huntsville, AL
Moving from Sacramento to Huntsville? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($582,707 → $316,645 median home) and taxes.
Sacramento vs Huntsville 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 Sacramento, CA, you'd need about $85,992 in Huntsville, AL (−$14,008).
Livability — Sacramento, CA: 49 · Huntsville, AL: 68 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,287 sqft in Sacramento vs 3,236 sqft in Huntsville ($389 vs $155 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Sacramento, CA | Huntsville, AL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $27,396 | $16,620 | −$10,776 |
| Groceries | $5,247 | $4,729 | −$517 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,465 | −$1,660 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,884 | −$1,920 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $2,400 | +$900 |
| Taxes | $20,410 | $9,172 | −$11,238 |
| Total | $63,482 | $38,270 | −$25,212 |
Side by side
| Metric | Sacramento, CA | Huntsville, AL |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 109.1 | 93.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.74% | 4.21% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.6% | 11.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 55 | 44 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.21 | $5.34 |
| Median home price | $582,707 | $316,645 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.5× | 4.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.6% | 0.7% |
| Price per square foot | $389 | $155 |
| Median rent | $2,283 | $1,385 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 9.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 9.25% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 5.00% |
| Property tax rate | 0.79% | 0.39% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $7,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 0.70% |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 2.95 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 450 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 33 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |