Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Tuscaloosa's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Tuscaloosa?
Your $100,000 in Tuscaloosa has the same purchasing power as $124,735 in the average US city. You'd need $24,735 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 Tuscaloosa's cost index of 80, sorted by closest match.
Wondering whether you should move to Tuscaloosa? It depends on what you're optimizing for, but the city has real arguments in its favor: your dollar carries more weight here and air quality you don't have to think about, plus 2 more things worth knowing. The data behind each is below.
Tuscaloosa sits at 80 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 20% 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 $980/mo against a typical household income of $47,257, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Tuscaloosa'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 Tuscaloosa 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.
38% of adults 25 and over in Tuscaloosa 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 Tuscaloosa'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. Tuscaloosa's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 37°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. Tuscaloosa's winter average of about 37°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.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Tuscaloosa runs about 90°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Tuscaloosa falls in roughly USDA Zone 9. The zone classification is based on average annual minimum temperatures, so it's the right lookup for whether perennials and trees will overwinter here. Note that this is approximate from our winter-temperature data — check the USDA map for the exact zone before betting an expensive plant on it.
Tuscaloosa sits at about 292 feet (89 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Hurricane season covers June through November, with peak activity in late summer and early fall. For Tuscaloosa, the practical advice is: have a few days of water and supplies on hand from August onward, know your evacuation route, and don't wait for the news to tell you a storm is "probably nothing" — track the cone yourself.
Average for an American city. Tuscaloosa's reported crime rate of about 3,563 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. Tuscaloosa's composite cost-of-living index is 80, roughly 20% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Not really — Tuscaloosa is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 17 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $56,119 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 Tuscaloosa runs about $980/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.