Overall
- Birmingham
- 91.6
Diff +0.3 RPP
Birmingham vs Augusta-Richmond County
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Augusta-Richmond County is 0.3% more expensive than Birmingham.
0.3% more expensive
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC is 0.3% more expensive than Birmingham, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.9 vs 91.6). A $100,000 salary in Birmingham buys about the same as $100,283 in Augusta-Richmond County; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 91.6 (Birmingham) vs 91.9 (Augusta-Richmond County)
- $100k in Birmingham ≈ $100,283 purchasing power in Augusta-Richmond County
- Services drives the gap (+5.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:GA 91.6→91.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × GA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Birmingham
91.6
Cost Index
Augusta-Richmond County
91.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Birmingham, AL and Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Augusta-Richmond County is 5.7 points higher. But rents and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Birmingham to $100,283 in Augusta-Richmond County, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Birmingham
- 96.4
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
- Birmingham
- 83.8
Diff +5.7 RPP
Rents
- Birmingham
- 71.9
Diff -1.2 RPP
| Category | Birmingham | Augusta-Richmond County | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.6 | 91.9 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 96.3 | -0.1 |
| Services | 83.8 | 89.5 | +5.7 |
| Rents | 71.9 | 70.6 | -1.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Birmingham 91.6
Augusta-Richmond County 91.9
Goods
Birmingham 96.4
Augusta-Richmond County 96.3
Services
Birmingham 83.8
Augusta-Richmond County 89.5
Rents
Birmingham 71.9
Augusta-Richmond County 70.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Birmingham and Augusta-Richmond County share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.6 to 0.3 RPP points. Augusta-Richmond County remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.6 to 5.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Birmingham RPP | Augusta-Richmond County RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.7 | 91.1 | 1.6 points Birmingham higher |
| 2012 | 93.7 | 93.5 | 0.2 points Birmingham higher |
| 2016 | 94.1 | 93.6 | 0.4 points Birmingham higher |
| 2020 | 91.4 | 89.7 | 1.7 points Birmingham higher |
| 2024 | 91.6 | 91.9 | 0.3 points Augusta-Richmond County higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Birmingham would need to be in Augusta-Richmond County for the same purchasing power:
| In Birmingham | In Augusta-Richmond County | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,141 | +$141 |
| $75,000 | $75,212 | +$212 |
| $100,000 | $100,283 | +$283 |
| $150,000 | $150,424 | +$424 |
$ in Birmingham = in Augusta-Richmond County
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.6 → 91.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Augusta-Richmond County more expensive than Birmingham?
Augusta-Richmond County is 0.3% more expensive than Birmingham. The overall cost index is 91.9 vs 91.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Augusta-Richmond County equals $100K in Birmingham?
A $100,000 salary in Birmingham has the same purchasing power as $100,283 in Augusta-Richmond County. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Birmingham and Augusta-Richmond County?
Rents in Birmingham are indexed at 71.9 while Augusta-Richmond County is at 70.6 (national average = 100). Birmingham has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.