Huntsville, Alabama Cost Of Living

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C+

Overall 3%

Goods & Services 5%

Housing 12%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2019 and was released from C2ER in January, 2020; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Huntsville	Alabama	National
Cost of living	97	89	100
Goods & Services	105	98	100
Groceries	93	96	100
Health care	100	91	100
Housing	88	72	100
Transportation	99	91	100
Utilities	97	103	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Huntsville is 8% higher than the Alabama average
The cost of living in Huntsville is 3% lower than the national average
Huntsville housing is 12% lower than the national average
Alabama general sales tax is 21% lower than the national average
Alabama state income tax is 19% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$74,295	$6,191	$1,733	$2,229
Renters	$28,710	$2,393	$670	$861

The affordability of the housing market in Huntsville, AL as well as the overall cost of living can be predicted by what percent of the monthly income is spent on housing related costs. This is konwn as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The overall rule of thumb is that no more than 28% of your gross income should be spent on the overall costs related to housing and no more than 36% of gross income on all expenses and debts. Among Huntsville homeowners, the median income is $74,295. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $1,733 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $28,710. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $670 for their rent related monthly costs.

Alabama Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Alabama	4%	13.5%

Alabama Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Alabama	2%	5%

Goods & Services

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$18.00	$17.49	2.9%
Beauty Salon	$31.32	$38.17	17.9%
Toothpaste	$2.29	$2.32	1.3%
Shampoo	$0.89	$1.01	12.0%
Movie	$9.19	$10.72	14.3%
Bowling	$20.00	$13.86	44.3%

Groceries

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.40	$3.90	12.8%
Fried Chicken	$1.57	$1.40	12.5%
Milk	$1.36	$1.96	30.7%
Potatoes	$2.47	$3.18	22.4%
Pizza	$10.49	$10.39	0.9%
Beer	$9.24	$9.23	0.1%

Health Care

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$108.00	$106.34	1.6%
Doctor	$115.00	$115.25	0.2%
Dentist	$102.00	$98.38	3.7%
Ibuprofen	$8.15	$9.26	12.0%
Lipitor	$469.79	$466.47	0.7%

Housing

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$168,900.00	$184,700.00	8.6%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$829.23	$1,273.32	34.9%
Apartment Rent	$750.00	$949.00	21.0%

Transportation

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.36	$2.59	8.9%
Tire Balancing	$56.00	$48.90	14.5%

Utilities

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$161.29	$167.60	3.8%
Phone	$178.98	$163.42	9.5%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Paint Rock, AL	221	84	-16%
Gurley, AL	775	87	-13%
New Hope, AL	2,808	91	-9%
New Market, AL	1,201	92	-8%
Hazel Green, AL	3,188	92	-8%
Huntsville, AL	188,973	97	-3%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Tallahassee, FL	188,466	99	-1%
Spring Valley, NV	190,661	100	0%
Salt Lake City, UT	191,446	106	6%
Grand Prairie, TX	185,631	98	-2%
Sunrise Manor, NV	192,873	90	-10%
Huntsville, AL	188,973	97	-3%

Source: The Huntsville, AL cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2019.

Huntsville, AL Cost of Living

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