Decatur vs Birmingham leftover
You'd keep $32 more a month in Birmingham
$2,362/mo leftover in Birmingham vs $2,330 in Decatur after tax and rent ($32 more). +$384 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Decatur leftover
$2,330
a month after tax and rent
Birmingham leftover
$2,362
+$32 vs Decatur
Compare Decatur to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Decatur.
Monthly gap
Decatur → Birmingham
$32
more / month in Birmingham
$2,362 in Birmingham · $2,330 in Decatur · 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, 118 households moved Decatur → Birmingham (avg AGI $58,907). 99 went the other way. The whole move →
+$32 / mo
| Per month | Decatur | Birmingham | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $6,750 | $7,188 | +$438 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,692 | $1,848 | +$156 |
| Take-home pay | $5,058 | $5,340 | +$282 |
| Rent | $772 | $1,106 | +$334 |
| Getting around | $591 | $553 | −$38 |
| Groceries | $376 | $364 | −$12 |
| Healthcare | $423 | $410 | −$13 |
| Utilities | $235 | $228 | −$7 |
| Everything else | $329 | $319 | −$10 |
| Left over | $2,330 | $2,362 | +$32 |
To break even in Birmingham, you'd need to earn
$85,500
Household gross, versus $81,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Decatur does now.
The tax difference alone
−$315
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 25.1% in Decatur, 25.7% in Birmingham.
More about Birmingham
Decatur, AL in full
State income tax topping out at 5%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $919 and 216 sunny days; commutes average 25 minutes.
Birmingham, AL in full
The lowest property tax rate in the country, on cheap houses.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Birmingham on Birmingham wages.
Birmingham → Decatur →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Birmingham than Decatur?
A one-bedroom is about $772 in Decatur versus $1,106 in Birmingham. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $32 a month higher in Birmingham. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Birmingham have state income tax?
Birmingham is in Alabama, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 1.00%.
What changes if you move from Decatur to Birmingham?
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 Decatur and Birmingham 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.