Little River Canyon, AlabamaPhoto: Snarblox, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Downtown in Jefferson County, AlabamaPhoto: Curtis Palmer from Vestavia Hills (Birmingham), Alabama, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Courthouse in Jefferson County, AlabamaPhoto: George Puvvada, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cost of living in Alabama

Rent, income, home value and property tax for Alabama, home to 5.09M people, then the same for each of its 67 counties. Every figure is the published one, with its source named.

Median rent: $1,007; Census ACS, B25064, monthly
Median household income: $63,999; Census ACS, B19013, yearly
Median home value: $209,900; Census ACS, B25077
Median property tax bill: $788; Census ACS, B25103, yearly, current owners
Mean commute: 26 min; Census ACS, DP03, one way
Unemployment: 4.7%; Census ACS, DP03

Alabama's own published state rows, never an average of its counties. Prices overall run 11% below the national average (BEA regional price parity, 2024).

Census ACS 2024 five-year estimates, checked November 2026.

The three most populous counties in Alabama

These are the most populous places in Alabama, not a match to you. Set what matters to you on Find your fit and this becomes your three closest matches here. Made-up answers work too. This is a tool, not a survey.

Jefferson County
Population
668K
Rent
$1,193
Household income
$66,388
Prop. tax (yearly)
$1,409
Plan
Mobile County
Population
413K
Rent
$1,052
Household income
$58,880
Prop. tax (yearly)
$888
Plan
Madison County
Population
406K
Rent
$1,209
Household income
$86,499
Prop. tax (yearly)
$1,185
Plan

Alabama, worth the trip

Admitted to the Union on December 14, 1819, as the 22nd state. General Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. Alabama was established as a separate territory in 1817 and became a state two years later.

Little River Canyon National Preserve
A river that runs along the top of Lookout Mountain, with waterfalls, canyon rims and sandstone cliffs.
Horseshoe Bend National Military Park
The bend of the Tallapoosa River where Andrew Jackson's army fought the Red Stick Creek on March 27, 1814.
Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site
Moton Field in Tuskegee, where the first African American military pilots began their flight training.

History: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Each place links to the page of the agency that looks after it.

Property tax in Alabama

Current owners in Alabama pay a median 0.38% of home value a year in property tax. Example: $788 a year, the median bill. By county, the median bill runs from $274 in Lamar County to $1,423 in Shelby County. These are bills that current owners pay, as the Census measures them. Each county's own figure is in the table below.

Health in Alabama

Life expectancy: 73.3 yrs; County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS vital statistics
No health insurance: 10.5%; County Health Rankings, from Census SAHIE, people under 65
Poor or fair health: 21.8%; County Health Rankings, from CDC BRFSS. Modeled, not counted
Injury deaths per 100K people: 93; County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS, counted deaths

Each is the figure County Health Rankings publishes for Alabama as a whole, never an average of its counties. Each county's own health readings are on its page.

Natural hazards in Alabama

Expected yearly loss, statewide: $2.5B; All natural hazards, an average year. Larger states lose more
Building loss rate: $1.94; Per $1,000 of building value, each year. Fair to compare between states
Costliest hazard: Inland flooding; $1.1B of the expected yearly loss, the largest share of any hazard FEMA assesses
Air quality: —; The EPA publishes air quality by county and metro area, never by state. It is on each county's page

FEMA publishes a risk score for counties and none for states, so none is shown here. Each county's score is on its own page.

New homes permitted in Alabama

Permitted in 2025

19,061homes

Per 1,000 residents

3.7

Single-family · larger buildings

15,402 · 3,659

20K2020
22K2021
19K2022
20K2023
21K2024
19K2025

Alabama approved permits for 19,061 new homes in 2025. That is about 3.7 homes for every 1,000 people. 15,402 were single-family houses, and 3,659 were in buildings with two or more homes. From 2020 to 2025 the yearly count stayed between 19,061 and 22,100.

25th of the 50 states and DC by homes permitted per 1,000 residents in 2025.

A permit lets a home be built. It does not mean the home is finished. Some offices did not report, so part of this figure is a Census estimate. The offices that did report account for 16,052. Source: US Census Building Permits Survey, annual 2025 data.

Side by side

Jefferson County, AL is the largest county here. Set it beside another place, reading by reading.

The largest counties in Alabama

By population, from the Census release named below. Each opens its own page.

All 67 counties in Alabama

Each has its published readings on its own page. Press a column to sort by it. Pick one, or open the map to see them shaded side by side.


Autauga County	$1,263	$72,481	$207,200	$627	59.9K	200
Baldwin County	$1,277	$78,775	$316,900	$960	247K	2,665
Barbour County	$688	$46,042	$112,900	$462	24.6K	14
Bibb County	$733	$52,541	$145,700	$298	22.1K	5
Blount County	$776	$64,190	$175,200	$523	59.5K	20
Bullock County	$556	$31,310	$81,700	—	10.1K	none
Butler County	$725	$44,755	$99,800	$362	18.6K	6
Calhoun County	$826	$55,029	$156,600	$653	116K	144
Chambers County	$871	$49,656	$135,800	$523	34.2K	100
Cherokee County	$762	$53,863	$179,700	$688	25.4K	21
Chilton County	$871	$65,603	$161,300	$537	46K	72
Choctaw County	$543	$47,813	$123,400	—	12.4K	none
Clarke County	$782	$49,249	$121,700	$396	22.5K	10
Clay County	$619	$55,250	$156,700	$331	14.2K	8
Cleburne County	$798	$55,345	$165,600	$486	15.4K	11
Coffee County	$1,018	$68,353	$188,600	$677	54.9K	198
Colbert County	$887	$60,628	$171,000	$678	58K	84
Conecuh County	$834	$41,327	$105,300	$331	11.3K	1
Coosa County	$665	$57,355	$115,500	$315	10.3K	none
Covington County	$746	$52,456	$152,100	$397	37.6K	13
Crenshaw County	$661	$48,560	$114,000	$369	13.1K	4
Cullman County	$908	$62,656	$199,100	$516	90.6K	196
Dale County	$889	$54,963	$143,500	$457	49.6K	29
Dallas County	$733	$35,627	$94,600	$392	36.9K	5
DeKalb County	$693	$51,204	$152,700	$496	72.3K	45
Elmore County	$1,071	$78,243	$223,900	$610	89.5K	140
Escambia County	$766	$48,225	$136,500	$530	36.6K	6
Etowah County	$847	$54,563	$167,100	$645	103K	123
Fayette County	$667	$49,488	$125,900	$355	16.1K	none
Franklin County	$676	$53,338	$136,000	$433	32K	27
Geneva County	$784	$52,771	$130,700	$447	26.9K	20
Greene County	$432	$29,200	$81,200	—	7,424	1
Hale County	$715	$39,250	$127,600	$406	14.8K	8
Henry County	$769	$59,931	$161,000	$553	17.6K	100
Houston County	$945	$58,626	$183,300	$562	108K	470
Jackson County	$780	$51,908	$159,500	$480	53.1K	49
Jefferson County	$1,193	$66,388	$240,000	$1,409	668K	2,391
Lamar County	$549	$50,000	$114,000	$274	13.7K	none
Lauderdale County	$838	$62,649	$200,300	$757	95.8K	316
Lawrence County	$753	$66,071	$172,300	$497	33.3K	6
Lee County	$1,058	$65,824	$262,200	$1,252	181K	1,575
Limestone County	$970	$83,629	$281,000	$900	111K	449
Lowndes County	$710	$37,052	$86,300	$337	9,833	4
Macon County	$734	$43,707	$102,000	$509	18.7K	6
Madison County	$1,209	$86,499	$299,200	$1,185	406K	4,070
Marengo County	$716	$43,825	$107,400	$409	18.9K	none
Marion County	$630	$50,088	$106,600	$301	29.2K	12
Marshall County	$795	$62,571	$201,500	$733	99.7K	222
Mobile County	$1,052	$58,880	$190,700	$888	413K	1,102
Monroe County	$666	$42,292	$120,600	$381	19.4K	37
Montgomery County	$1,092	$59,386	$171,900	$702	227K	729
Morgan County	$864	$68,845	$212,000	$718	124K	400
Perry County	$592	$37,654	$86,400	—	8,031	none
Pickens County	$648	$46,274	$123,900	$364	18.7K	4
Pike County	$856	$48,677	$157,600	$424	33K	27
Randolph County	$708	$52,338	$181,600	$452	22.5K	none
Russell County	$939	$51,197	$165,700	$629	58.8K	151
Shelby County	$1,401	$97,961	$326,100	$1,423	230K	1,308
St. Clair County	$1,084	$77,463	$226,300	$724	94.2K	411
Sumter County	$775	$33,310	$82,600	$359	11.9K	4
Talladega County	$785	$57,776	$149,200	$544	81K	195
Tallapoosa County	$765	$59,356	$158,500	$481	40.9K	230
Tuscaloosa County	$1,037	$66,231	$248,700	$795	238K	603
Walker County	$756	$56,509	$135,900	$356	64.8K	12
Washington County	$655	$61,042	$159,700	$365	15.1K	none
Wilcox County	—	$40,640	$98,800	$319	10.2K	none
Winston County	$803	$57,256	$118,900	$380	23.7K	2

Household income, home value and population are on each county's own page, and in this table on a wider screen.

Where these numbers come from

Each reading is the published figure, not an estimate. A dash means the source did not publish one, or published one too uncertain to print.

State figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 20245-year estimates, the state's own row (tables B25064, B19013, B25077, B25103, B01003, DP03).
County figures: the same survey, each county's own row, as on every county page.
Price level: Bureau of Economic Analysis, regional price parities, 2024, all items, state-level.
Health: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, the state's own row. Poor or fair health is a modeled estimate from CDC survey data. The other three are counted or calculated.
Natural hazards: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025, state table, expected annual loss. This product uses FEMA data but is not endorsed by FEMA.
Air quality has no state figure: the EPA publishes it by county and metro area only.
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons and the county photo feed, each credited to its photographer under its own licence, beneath the picture.

What to do with these numbers

Every number here is public. The site adds your side of it: Alabama next to your own state, by what you value.

See Alabama beside your own state
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See the three counties

Alabama at a glance

The three most populous counties in Alabama

Jefferson County

Mobile County

Madison County