Birmingham vs Montgomery leftover
Moving to Montgomery costs you $309 a month
$2,039/mo leftover in Montgomery vs $2,348 in Birmingham after tax and rent ($309 less). −$3,708 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
Montgomery leftover
$2,039
−$309 vs Birmingham
Compare Birmingham to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Birmingham.
Monthly gap
Birmingham → Montgomery
$309
less / month in Birmingham
$2,039 in Montgomery · $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, 533 households moved Birmingham → Montgomery (avg AGI $57,370). 747 went the other way. The whole move →
−$309 / mo
| Per month | Birmingham | Montgomery | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,167 | $6,840 | −$327 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,840 | $1,724 | −$117 |
| Take-home pay | $5,326 | $5,116 | −$211 |
| Rent | $1,106 | $1,121 | +$15 |
| 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 | $2,039 | −$309 |
To break even in Montgomery, you'd need to earn
$88,000
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
+$236
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 25.7% in Birmingham, 25.2% in Montgomery.
More about Montgomery
Birmingham, AL in full
The lowest property tax rate in the country, on cheap houses.
Montgomery, AL in full
State income tax topping out at 5%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,335 and 229 sunny days; commutes average 24 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Montgomery on Montgomery wages.
Montgomery → Birmingham →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Montgomery than Birmingham?
A one-bedroom is about $1,106 in Birmingham versus $1,121 in Montgomery. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $309 a month lower in Montgomery. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Montgomery have state income tax?
Montgomery is in Alabama, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 1.00%.
What changes if you move from Birmingham to Montgomery?
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 Montgomery 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.