Overall
- Birmingham
- 91.6
- Fairbanks-College
- 103.2
Diff +11.6 RPP
Birmingham vs Fairbanks-College
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fairbanks-College is 12.6% more expensive than Birmingham.
12.6% more expensive
Fairbanks-College, AK is 12.6% more expensive than Birmingham, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.2 vs 91.6). A $100,000 salary in Birmingham buys about the same as $112,618 in Fairbanks-College; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 91.6 (Birmingham) vs 103.2 (Fairbanks-College)
- $100k in Birmingham ≈ $112,618 purchasing power in Fairbanks-College
- Services drives the gap (+36.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:AK 91.6→103.2
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE AL × AK
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Birmingham, AL and Fairbanks-College, AK sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 11.6 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Fairbanks-College is above 100 while Birmingham is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Fairbanks-College 36.0 points higher than Birmingham. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 $112,618 in Fairbanks-College, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Birmingham and Fairbanks-College share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 12.0 to 11.6 RPP points. Fairbanks-College remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 31.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (4.9 to 36.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Birmingham RPP | Fairbanks-College RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.7 | 104.7 | 12.0 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2012 | 93.7 | 97.9 | 4.3 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2016 | 94.1 | 100.4 | 6.4 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2020 | 91.4 | 99.4 | 8.0 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2024 | 91.6 | 103.2 | 11.6 points Fairbanks-College 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Birmingham
- 96.4
- Fairbanks-College
- 107.3
Diff +10.9 RPP
Services
- Birmingham
- 83.8
- Fairbanks-College
- 119.8
Diff +36.0 RPP
Rents
- Birmingham
- 71.9
- Fairbanks-College
- 92.6
Diff +20.7 RPP
| Category | Birmingham | Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.6 | 103.2 | +11.6 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 107.3 | +10.9 |
| Services | 83.8 | 119.8 | +36.0 |
| Rents | 71.9 | 92.6 | +20.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Birmingham 91.6
Fairbanks-College 103.2
Goods
Birmingham 96.4
Fairbanks-College 107.3
Services
Birmingham 83.8
Fairbanks-College 119.8
Rents
Birmingham 71.9
Fairbanks-College 92.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Birmingham would need to be in Fairbanks-College for the same purchasing power:
| In Birmingham | In Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $56,309 | +$6,309 |
| $75,000 | $84,464 | +$9,464 |
| $100,000 | $112,618 | +$12,618 |
| $150,000 | $168,928 | +$18,928 |
$ in Birmingham = in Fairbanks-College
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.6 → 103.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Birmingham
91.6
Cost Index
Fairbanks-College
103.2
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fairbanks-College more expensive than Birmingham?
Fairbanks-College is 12.6% more expensive than Birmingham. The overall cost index is 103.2 vs 91.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fairbanks-College equals $100K in Birmingham?
A $100,000 salary in Birmingham has the same purchasing power as $112,618 in Fairbanks-College. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Birmingham and Fairbanks-College?
Rents in Birmingham are indexed at 71.9 while Fairbanks-College is at 92.6 (national average = 100). Fairbanks-College 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.