City comparison
Philadelphia, PA is about 850 miles (1,300 km) from Tuscaloosa, AL in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,000 miles, or about 17 hours behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from Philadelphia, PA to Tuscaloosa, AL takes about 1 h 40 min, covering roughly 850 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
Philadelphia, PA is on Eastern Time and Tuscaloosa, AL is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Philadelphia, it's 11 a.m. in Tuscaloosa, which puts Philadelphia 1 hours ahead.
Standard-time offsets. Daylight saving applies in both cities for most of the year (exceptions: Hawaii and most of Arizona), and the gap between the two stays the same.
Philadelphia has a population of 1,593,208, vs 105,797 in Tuscaloosa — about 15.1× larger by population. By land area, Philadelphia covers about 135 sq mi vs 63 sq mi for Tuscaloosa.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Philadelphia | Tuscaloosa | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,250/mo | $980/mo | 27.6% higher in Philadelphia |
| Median home value | $215,500 | $228,300 | 5.9% higher in Tuscaloosa |
| Median household income | $57,537 | $47,257 | 21.8% higher in Philadelphia |
| Groceries index | 97.0 | 96.6 | ≈ equal (Philadelphia slightly higher) |
| Utilities index | 112.3 | 85.3 | 31.6% higher in Philadelphia |
| Transportation index | 101.7 | 97.0 | 4.8% higher in Philadelphia |
| Healthcare index | 102.7 | 96.5 | 6.4% higher in Philadelphia |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Philadelphia, you'd need $75,447 in Tuscaloosa to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Tuscaloosa, AL is about 24.6% cheaper overall than Philadelphia, PA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 87% higher in Philadelphia than in Tuscaloosa. If you earn $80,000 in Philadelphia, you'd need about $60,358 in Tuscaloosa to keep the same standard of living.