Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Huntsville's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Huntsville?
Your $100,000 in Huntsville has the same purchasing power as $113,843 in the average US city. You'd need $13,843 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 Huntsville's cost index of 88, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Huntsville usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: living costs come in under the us baseline, on the calmer side of the national distribution, plus 3 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Huntsville sits at 88 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 12% under the national average. Not the cheapest place in the country, but enough of a discount to notice on rent and groceries every month. Median rent in town runs about $1,020/mo against a typical household income of $67,874, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Huntsville reports about 2,400 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — a step below the US average of around 3,500. The citywide number averages over neighborhoods that can vary a lot, but the headline number is friendlier than most American cities of comparable size.
Huntsville's air quality index averages about 42 — 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 Huntsville is about 19 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.
46% of adults 25 and over in Huntsville hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Huntsville'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. Huntsville's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 35°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. Huntsville's winter average of about 35°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 Huntsville 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. Huntsville'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.
Huntsville is at about 640 feet (195 m) above sea level. High enough to be solidly above any coastal concern, low enough that altitude isn't a factor.
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 Huntsville 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.
Average for an American city. Huntsville's reported crime rate of about 2,400 per 100,000 residents sits roughly in line with the US baseline of ~3,500. Like anywhere else, the citywide number masks real differences between neighborhoods — worth looking at specific areas before deciding.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Huntsville's composite cost-of-living index is 88, roughly 12% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Not really — Huntsville is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 8 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Transit Score is 0 out of 100. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $61,488 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 Huntsville runs about $1,020/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.