Birmingham vs Florence leftover
Moving to Florence costs you $64 a month
$2,284/mo leftover in Florence vs $2,348 in Birmingham after tax and rent ($64 less). −$768 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Birmingham leftover
$2,348
a month after tax and rent
Florence leftover
$2,284
−$64 vs Birmingham
Compare Birmingham to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Birmingham.
Monthly gap
Birmingham → Florence
$64
less / month in Birmingham
$2,284 in Florence · $2,348 in Birmingham · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 66 households moved Birmingham → Florence (avg AGI $64,576). 89 went the other way. The whole move →
−$64 / mo
| Per month | Birmingham | Florence | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,167 | $6,629 | −$537 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,840 | $1,649 | −$192 |
| Take-home pay | $5,326 | $4,981 | −$346 |
| Rent | $1,106 | $741 | −$365 |
| Getting around | $553 | $591 | +$38 |
| Groceries | $364 | $376 | +$12 |
| Healthcare | $410 | $423 | +$13 |
| Utilities | $228 | $235 | +$7 |
| Everything else | $319 | $329 | +$10 |
| Left over | $2,348 | $2,284 | −$64 |
To break even in Florence, you'd need to earn
$81,000
Household gross, versus $86,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Birmingham does now.
The tax difference alone
+$387
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 25.7% in Birmingham, 24.9% in Florence.
More about Florence
Birmingham, AL in full
The lowest property tax rate in the country, on cheap houses.
Florence, AL in full
State income tax topping out at 5%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $882 and 213 sunny days; commutes average 25 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Florence on Florence wages.
Florence → Birmingham →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Florence than Birmingham?
A one-bedroom is about $1,106 in Birmingham versus $741 in Florence. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $64 a month lower in Florence. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Florence have state income tax?
Florence is in Alabama, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 1.00%.
What changes if you move from Birmingham to Florence?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Alabama tax, rent is priced at the same bedroom count, and leftover is the gap. The from-to page also lists IRS households that already made the move, when that data exists.
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Birmingham and Florence moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
Rent is Zillow's asking rent for each metro; taxes and living costs are modelled. An estimate, not a quote or tax advice. How this is calculated.