Prices, pay, taxes, homes and family budgets, county by county, from the same official data the site's calculators use.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures price levels in every state against a national average of 100. Alabama scores 88.8 overall, so a $75,000 salary at average US prices buys what $66,617 buys here. Compare any salary with another state.
| Price level | Alabama (US = 100) | Rank, most expensive first |
|---|---|---|
| Everything | 88.8 | 45th of 51 |
| Rents | 61.8 | 48th of 51 |
| Goods | 96.4 | — |
| Other services | 96.7 | — |
Home electricity averaged 15.18 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2024, against 17.06 across all states. A gallon of regular gas cost $3.70 at the end of August 2026, against $4.12.
Across all 2,113,660 jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in Alabama, the median pay is $45,670 a year, or $21.96 an hour; that ranks 46th of the 50 states and DC. One worker in ten earns less than $26,090 and one in ten more than $101,250.
Alabama taxes wages in brackets, with a top rate of 5%. The brackets in Alabama. A single filer on the median $45,670, with no retirement or health deductions, takes home about $36,632 a year, or $1,409 every two weeks, after $3,300 of federal income tax, $3,494 of Social Security and Medicare and $2,244 of state income tax. Work out your own paycheck in Alabama.
The five occupations employing the most people, with their median annual pay:
| Occupation | Jobs | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Retail Salespersons | 60,880 | $30,040 |
| Registered Nurses | 54,340 | $77,080 |
| Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators | 53,280 | $42,700 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 46,580 | $34,290 |
| Cashiers | 46,420 | $28,250 |
Of the 20 largest occupations, the best paid are general and operations managers ($111,790), registered nurses ($77,080), accountants and auditors ($74,880). See what common jobs pay in every state.
Across the 67 Alabama counties with their own Zillow home value, the median typical home is worth $182,928, and across the 29 with their own rent figure the median typical rent is $1,373 a month. A typical home costs 2.70 years of the county's median family income, at the median county.
With 10% down at 7.03%, the average 30-year rate on September 24, 2026, that home costs about $1,511 a month with tax, insurance and mortgage insurance, which takes $64,752 a year of income under the usual 28% guideline. The median family can afford its own county's typical home in 61.2% of Alabama's counties, against 44.9% of counties nationally. Try it with your own income.
At the median county, home values changed +1.5% over the past year and +15.2% over five years, and rents +3.0% over the past year.
The most expensive Alabama counties are Baldwin County ($376,456), Shelby County ($363,240) and Lee County ($352,521); the least expensive are Dallas County ($90,173), Sumter County ($97,042) and Butler County ($116,927).
The Economic Policy Institute prices what a modest but adequate standard of living costs in every county: housing, food, transport, healthcare, childcare, other necessities and taxes. In the median Alabama county, that comes to $42,820 a year for one adult and $90,456 for two adults and two children, of which $14,410 is childcare. The national averages are $47,367 and $101,771. Median family income in the median county is $69,752.
| Two adults, two children | Per year, median county | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $9,852 | $821 |
| Food | $11,916 | $993 |
| Transportation | $18,652 | $1,554 |
| Healthcare | $16,331 | $1,361 |
| Childcare | $14,410 | $1,201 |
| Other necessities | $6,803 | $567 |
| Taxes | $12,530 | $1,044 |
Each line is its own median across counties, so the lines do not add up exactly to the total.
The Department of Education's College Scorecard lists 82 colleges in Alabama, 42 of them public. The median public college reports a cost of attendance of $19,092 a year, covering tuition, housing, books and other expenses. Ten years after enrolling, the median school's former students earn $39,967. Compare degrees and schools.
| Autauga County | $266,179 | +3.8% | $1,759 | $83,452 | $100,476 |
| Baldwin County | $376,456 | −0.5% | $1,672 | $92,918 | $103,530 |
| Barbour County | $155,531 | +3.2% | — | $60,474 | $83,019 |
| Bibb County | $223,183 | +0.8% | — | $67,222 | $96,265 |
| Blount County | $236,382 | +0.9% | $1,360 | $76,388 | $95,405 |
| Bullock County | $122,282 | +1.1% | — | $45,975 | $91,793 |
| Butler County | $116,927 | −0.8% | — | $64,429 | $90,456 |
| Calhoun County | $171,378 | +4.1% | $983 | $71,552 | $89,574 |
| Chambers County | $141,764 | +0.6% | — | $63,313 | $93,388 |
| Cherokee County | $230,680 | +0.4% | — | $66,392 | $83,147 |
| Chilton County | $224,581 | +5.0% | $1,407 | $74,137 | $92,892 |
| Choctaw County | $127,252 | −7.8% | — | $65,982 | $87,437 |
| Clarke County | $144,308 | +0.9% | — | $72,578 | $87,777 |
| Clay County | $182,928 | +7.6% | — | $61,750 | $86,202 |
| Cleburne County | $238,248 | +6.7% | — | $76,694 | $88,404 |
| Coffee County | $183,797 | −1.5% | $1,436 | $79,929 | $89,367 |
| Colbert County | $199,737 | +2.1% | $1,020 | $70,711 | $95,936 |
| Conecuh County | $135,666 | +2.3% | — | $55,625 | $88,392 |
| Coosa County | $189,684 | +3.5% | — | $68,369 | $88,437 |
| Covington County | $159,761 | +0.1% | — | $65,570 | $89,190 |
| Crenshaw County | $146,032 | +5.7% | — | $66,523 | $87,299 |
| Cullman County | $257,012 | +3.2% | $1,381 | $76,098 | $95,791 |
| Dale County | $163,161 | +1.5% | $1,343 | $69,752 | $83,449 |
| Dallas County | $90,173 | +5.4% | — | $52,752 | $88,072 |
| DeKalb County | $219,724 | +3.3% | — | $60,315 | $82,572 |
| Elmore County | $275,167 | +4.8% | $1,481 | $91,529 | $97,462 |
| Escambia County | $145,263 | +3.7% | — | $60,428 | $86,849 |
| Etowah County | $186,661 | +5.7% | $1,011 | $67,790 | $89,603 |
| Fayette County | $150,934 | +0.3% | — | $71,884 | $85,786 |
| Franklin County | $180,917 | −4.0% | — | $66,038 | $90,941 |
| Geneva County | $168,512 | +2.4% | — | $63,658 | $88,875 |
| Greene County | $133,115 | +5.2% | — | $43,606 | $98,244 |
| Hale County | $179,153 | +5.0% | — | $71,159 | $96,164 |
| Henry County | $197,934 | +1.3% | — | $79,127 | $90,234 |
| Houston County | $204,428 | +2.5% | $1,249 | $73,929 | $89,781 |
| Jackson County | $194,820 | −0.1% | $1,362 | $63,025 | $83,111 |
| Jefferson County | $217,176 | +1.4% | $1,392 | $85,260 | $103,139 |
| Lamar County | $131,556 | −5.1% | — | $60,000 | $85,718 |
| Lauderdale County | $232,656 | +2.1% | $1,230 | $79,112 | $94,037 |
| Lawrence County | $224,595 | +1.3% | — | $77,233 | $91,658 |
| Lee County | $352,521 | +4.5% | $1,661 | $88,725 | $102,610 |
| Limestone County | $322,656 | +0.8% | $1,522 | $101,284 | $102,759 |
| Lowndes County | $145,278 | −1.9% | — | $50,041 | $91,228 |
| Macon County | $132,644 | +1.9% | — | $54,493 | $92,734 |
| Madison County | $314,800 | +1.0% | $1,373 | $107,322 | $103,692 |
| Marengo County | $138,728 | −2.4% | — | $72,769 | $86,199 |
| Marion County | $163,806 | −1.2% | — | $66,826 | $85,271 |
| Marshall County | $244,549 | +3.1% | $1,422 | $76,314 | $82,547 |
| Mobile County | $198,520 | +0.1% | $1,327 | $74,098 | $95,192 |
| Monroe County | $140,820 | +0.2% | — | $60,895 | $87,655 |
| Montgomery County | $165,606 | +2.2% | $1,366 | $72,355 | $94,613 |
| Morgan County | $234,342 | +0.4% | $1,148 | $82,280 | $94,385 |
| Perry County | $134,023 | −2.8% | — | $37,930 | $86,842 |
| Pickens County | $135,869 | −0.8% | — | $61,582 | $92,510 |
| Pike County | $169,459 | −4.0% | $1,042 | $71,889 | $89,767 |
| Randolph County | $209,059 | +3.2% | — | $68,045 | $86,114 |
| Russell County | $198,898 | +4.7% | $1,383 | $61,896 | $94,150 |
| Shelby County | $363,240 | +2.1% | $1,751 | $115,789 | $112,439 |
| St. Clair County | $281,844 | +3.3% | $1,655 | $91,091 | $105,036 |
| Sumter County | $97,042 | −10.8% | — | $47,521 | $88,311 |
| Talladega County | $181,108 | −0.9% | $1,210 | $68,513 | $86,642 |
| Tallapoosa County | $268,098 | −0.8% | — | $70,461 | $92,076 |
| Tuscaloosa County | $232,592 | +0.2% | $1,467 | $86,287 | $99,841 |
| Walker County | $164,975 | +1.8% | $1,283 | $72,089 | $89,837 |
| Washington County | $173,197 | +1.7% | — | $84,911 | $96,900 |
| Wilcox County | $146,488 | +3.7% | — | $54,517 | $93,178 |
| Winston County | $208,480 | +4.5% | — | $64,579 | $91,065 |
A dash means the source publishes no figure for that county. Home values and rents are Zillow's own county figures only; counties Zillow does not cover are left blank rather than filled with a state average.
Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming
Cost of living · Income tax · Child care costs
Run the numbersTake-home pay in Alabama · What a salary is worth in Alabama · How much rent you can afford · What a car costs in Alabama
Writing about Alabama? Paste this code into your page for a small card with the figures above, which update when the site's data does. It has no tracking and no cookies.
County figures are medians across Alabama's counties, each counting once, so they describe the spread of places rather than of people. Property tax and insurance vary widely; the calculators let you use your own.