Huntsville, Alabama Cost Of Living

Buy Rent

B-

Overall 7%

Goods & Services 2%

Housing 12%

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	93	88	100
Goods & Services	98	94	100
Groceries	97	98	100
Health care	89	91	100
Housing	88	72	100
Transportation	88	93	100
Utilities	96	101	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Huntsville is 6% higher than the Alabama average
The cost of living in Huntsville is 7% 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	$18.03	$20.27	11.1%
Beauty Salon	$50.36	$40.39	24.7%
Toothpaste	$2.12	$2.36	10.3%
Shampoo	$1.12	$1.08	4.1%
Movie	$11.61	$10.99	5.7%
Bowling	$19.00	$15.49	22.7%

Groceries

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$5.01	$4.30	16.7%
Fried Chicken	$1.52	$1.40	8.4%
Milk	$1.92	$2.20	12.8%
Potatoes	$3.18	$3.22	1.3%
Pizza	$10.16	$10.74	5.4%
Beer	$9.67	$9.60	0.8%

Health Care

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$67.30	$109.73	38.7%
Doctor	$120.22	$118.34	1.6%
Dentist	$87.08	$100.94	13.7%
Ibuprofen	$9.81	$9.93	1.2%
Lipitor	$409.47	$469.53	12.8%

Housing

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$168,900.00	$184,700.00	8.6%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$878.01	$1,229.62	28.6%
Apartment Rent	$750.00	$949.00	21.0%

Transportation

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.41	$2.71	11.1%
Tire Balancing	$44.25	$51.86	14.7%

Utilities

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$161.54	$170.84	5.4%
Phone	$185.19	$187.18	1.1%

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	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Paint Rock, AL	221	81	19.1%
Gurley, AL	775	84	16.2%
New Hope, AL	2,808	88	12.4%
New Market, AL	1,201	88	11.9%
Hazel Green, AL	3,188	89	11.2%
Huntsville, AL	188,973	93	6.7%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Tallahassee, FL	188,466	98	1.9%
Spring Valley, NV	190,661	103	2.9%
Salt Lake City, UT	191,446	108	7.5%
Grand Prairie, TX	185,631	97	3.3%
Sunrise Manor, NV	192,873	93	7.0%
Huntsville, AL	188,973	93	6.7%

Source: This data reflects 2021 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.