Huntsville, AL Cost Of Living

Huntsville cost of living index

In the event that the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used. Each cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. If the amount is below 100, it is lower than the national average. If the amount is above 100, it is higher than the national average.
Index	Huntsville	Alabama	National
Cost of living index	99	89	100
Index	Huntsville	Alabama	National
Goods & Services index	107	96	100
Groceries index	96	97	100
Health care index	97	86	100
Housing index	88	72	100
Transportation index	95	91	100
Utilities index	110	108	100

A general summary of the cost of living index in Huntsville, AL is shown above. Compared to the state average of Alabama the cost of living index in Huntsville, AL is 99, which is 10% higher than the average in Alabama and compared to the national average it is 1% lower than. The cost of living index is made up of several categories. These are transportation at 9%, utilities at 10%, goods and services at 33%, housing at 30%, groceries at 13%, and health care at 5%. The bulk of the cost of living index comes from the categories of goods and services and housing. If you look at everyday goods and services they can be a good indicator in a certain city of the general costs of goods there. In Huntsville, AL goods and services come in at 11% higher than the average in Alabama and are 7% higher than compared to the nationwide average.

Did you know?

The cost of living in Huntsville is 10% higher than the Alabama average.
The cost of living in Huntsville is 1% lower than the national average.
The cost of housing in Huntsville is 12% lower than the national average.
Alabama general sales tax is 21% lower than the national average.
Alabama state income tax is 10% 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

Use the salary calculator to compare your current salary in Huntsville, AL to any other city. The salary calculator will tell you how much you would need to earn in any given city to maintain the same standard of living based on the cost of living in each city. For example, if the cost of living in the city you are looking to relocate to is higher than the cost of living in Huntsville, AL, then you would need to earn more income in order to maintain the same standard of living. To use the Huntsville, AL salary calculator, simply enter in the name of the new city, then adjust the slider to your current income. The salary calculator will do the rest and let you know if you need to earn more or less in the new city. You will also see a complete breakdown of the cost of living.

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 indicated accurately 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 ever be used on the overall costs related to housing and no more than 36% of gross income on all expenses and debts. Among Huntsville, AL 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 should have a maximum of $670 used 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%

One thing to keep in mind when considering the cost of living in Huntsville, AL is the Alabama sales tax and Alabama income tax rates. Sales taxes are taxes that are collected on most goods or services sold. Sales taxes can vary by state and can be as high as 7% and as low as 0% as not every state imposes a sales tax. The Alabama sales tax rate is 4% and the maximum surtax that can be charged is 13.5%. Income tax is the tax imposed on income by both the federal and state government. The income tax rates varies by individual state and will also be higher or lower depending on the applicable tax bracket. The rates of state income tax can vary from 0% to more than 9%. The Alabama income tax rates range from 2% to 5%.

Goods & Services

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$19.64	$16.09	22.1%
Beauty Salon	$41.22	$37.33	10.4%
Toothpaste	$2.11	$2.45	13.8%
Shampoo	$0.89	$1.00	10.7%
Movie	$10.65	$10.28	3.6%
Bowling	$4.65	$4.93	5.7%

Groceries

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.47	$3.80	17.4%
Fried Chicken	$1.19	$1.40	14.8%
Milk	$1.71	$2.01	14.8%
Potatoes	$3.25	$3.01	8.1%
Pizza	$11.99	$9.89	21.3%
Beer	$8.21	$8.90	7.8%

Health Care

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$113.35	$102.16	11.0%
Doctor	$93.11	$108.36	14.1%
Dentist	$94.44	$92.53	2.1%
Ibuprofen	$8.07	$9.28	13.1%
Lipitor	$432.26	$425.82	1.5%

Housing

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$168,900.00	$184,700.00	8.6%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$881.36	$1,202.44	26.7%
Apartment Rent	$750.00	$949.00	21.0%

Transportation

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.16	$2.24	4.0%
Tire Balancing	$43.76	$46.29	5.5%

Utilities

Item	Huntsville	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$155.88	$165.96	6.1%
Phone	$37.04	$28.68	29.1%

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, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Paint Rock, AL	221	86	-14%
Gurley, AL	775	89	-11%
New Hope, AL	2,808	93	-7%
New Market, AL	1,201	93	-7%
Hazel Green, AL	3,188	94	-6%
Huntsville, AL	188,973	99	-1%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Tallahassee, FL	188,466	98	-2%
Spring Valley, NV	190,661	101	1%
Salt Lake City, UT	191,446	105	5%
Grand Prairie, TX	185,631	95	-5%
Sunrise Manor, NV	192,873	91	-9%
Huntsville, AL	188,973	99	-1%

Source: The Huntsville, AL cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2017.

Huntsville, AL Cost of Living