Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Mobile's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Mobile?
Your $100,000 in Mobile has the same purchasing power as $123,625 in the average US city. You'd need $23,625 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 Mobile's cost index of 81, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Mobile, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously cheaper than the national average, with no fine print and the air is clean, not just clean-ish, plus 1 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Mobile sits at 81 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 19% 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 $985/mo against a typical household income of $48,524, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Mobile'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 Mobile is about 23 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 Mobile'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. Mobile's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 43°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. Mobile's winter average of about 43°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 Mobile averages about 90°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.
Approximately USDA Hardiness Zone 9. That's the band gardeners use to pick plants — anything rated for Zone 9 or colder should survive a typical winter in Mobile. (The estimate is derived from our winter-temperature data; the official USDA map uses station-level annual minimums and may differ by half a zone.)
Mobile sits at about 43 feet (13 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Officially, Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, but most of the action lands between mid-August and mid-October. For Mobile, that's when to keep half an eye on the National Hurricane Center forecast cone — and when an actual evacuation plan is worth having in the drawer if you're in a low-lying or coastal neighborhood.
Average for an American city. Mobile's reported crime rate of about 3,983 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. Mobile's composite cost-of-living index is 81, roughly 19% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Mostly car-dependent. Mobile's Walk Score of 33/100 means a handful of errands work on foot — depending on the neighborhood — but most residents still need a car for the rest.
Roughly $56,623 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 Mobile runs about $985/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.