Overall
- Birmingham
- 91.6
Diff +0.7 RPP
College Station-Bryan vs Birmingham
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Birmingham is 0.8% more expensive than College Station-Bryan.
0.8% more expensive
Birmingham, AL is 0.8% more expensive than College Station-Bryan, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.6 vs 91.0). A $100,000 salary in College Station-Bryan buys about the same as $100,762 in Birmingham; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 91.0 (College Station-Bryan) vs 91.6 (Birmingham)
- $100k in College Station-Bryan ≈ $100,762 purchasing power in Birmingham
- Rents drives the gap (-3.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:AL 91.0→91.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × AL
- 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.
College Station-Bryan
91.0
Cost Index
Birmingham
91.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
College Station-Bryan, TX and Birmingham, AL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Birmingham is 3.2 points lower. But rents and services 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 housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in College Station-Bryan corresponds to $100,762 in Birmingham.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Birmingham
- 96.4
Diff +2.6 RPP
Services
- Birmingham
- 83.8
Diff -0.6 RPP
Rents
- Birmingham
- 71.9
Diff -3.2 RPP
| Category | College Station-Bryan | Birmingham | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.0 | 91.6 | +0.7 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.4 | +2.6 |
| Services | 84.4 | 83.8 | -0.6 |
| Rents | 75.1 | 71.9 | -3.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
College Station-Bryan 91.0
Birmingham 91.6
Goods
College Station-Bryan 93.8
Birmingham 96.4
Services
College Station-Bryan 84.4
Birmingham 83.8
Rents
College Station-Bryan 75.1
Birmingham 71.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in College Station-Bryan would need to be in Birmingham for the same purchasing power:
| In College Station-Bryan | In Birmingham | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,381 | +$381 |
| $75,000 | $75,571 | +$571 |
| $100,000 | $100,762 | +$762 |
| $150,000 | $151,143 | +$1,143 |
$ in College Station-Bryan = in Birmingham
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.0 → 91.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Birmingham more expensive than College Station-Bryan?
Birmingham is 0.8% more expensive than College Station-Bryan. The overall cost index is 91.6 vs 91.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Birmingham equals $100K in College Station-Bryan?
A $100,000 salary in College Station-Bryan has the same purchasing power as $100,762 in Birmingham. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between College Station-Bryan and Birmingham?
Rents in College Station-Bryan are indexed at 75.1 while Birmingham is at 71.9 (national average = 100). College Station-Bryan 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.