Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Dothan's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Dothan?
Your $100,000 in Dothan has the same purchasing power as $132,521 in the average US city. You'd need $32,521 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Dothan's cost index of 75, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Dothan usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: a genuinely affordable place to land, clean air, by the numbers, plus 1 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Cost of living lands at 75 on the composite index — about 25% under the US average. That's the kind of gap that shows up in the savings rate, not just the rent check. Median rent in town runs about $871/mo against a typical household income of $53,704, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Dothan's air quality index averages about 44 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Dothan is about 21 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
Reasons are pulled from Dothan's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Now and then. Dothan's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 42°F on average — so most of the precipitation falls as rain. A snowy morning happens a few times a season; sustained accumulation is rare.
Mild on the cold side. Dothan's winter average of about 42°F is the kind of weather where you want a jacket but the heating bill is manageable. Snow is rare, frost is occasional, and the lawn never really browns out.
Genuinely hot. Summer in Dothan averages about 91°F, and peak afternoons run well over a hundred. Outdoor plans move to mornings and evenings; AC is the most-used appliance in the house.
Zone 9, give or take a half-zone. Dothan's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 9 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Dothan sits at about 335 feet (102 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Atlantic basin storms can form from June 1 to November 30, but the serious ones cluster in August, September, and the first half of October. Residents of Dothan learn the season's rhythm fast: watch the cone, board up when it's the call, and don't shrug off the slow-mover storms — those are usually the ones that flood.
Higher than average. Dothan reports about 4,021 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the US average of around 3,500. Citywide numbers are often dragged up by a few hotspots; specific neighborhoods can be very safe in cities that don't look great on paper, and vice versa.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Dothan's composite cost-of-living index is 75, roughly 25% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Mostly car-dependent. Dothan's Walk Score of 43/100 means a handful of errands work on foot — depending on the neighborhood — but most residents still need a car for the rest.
Roughly $52,822 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Dothan runs about $871/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.