Overall
- Decatur
- 87.2
- Tuscaloosa
- 87.7
Diff +0.5 RPP
Decatur vs Tuscaloosa
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Tuscaloosa is 0.6% more expensive than Decatur.
0.6% more expensive
Tuscaloosa, AL is 0.6% more expensive than Decatur, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.7 vs 87.2). A $100,000 salary in Decatur buys about the same as $100,585 in Tuscaloosa; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.2 (Decatur) vs 87.7 (Tuscaloosa)
- $100k in Decatur ≈ $100,585 purchasing power in Tuscaloosa
- Services drives the gap (-0.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:AL 87.2→87.7
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · 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.
Decatur
87.2
Cost Index
Tuscaloosa
87.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Decatur, AL and Tuscaloosa, AL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Tuscaloosa is 0.3 points lower. But services 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 Decatur to $100,585 in Tuscaloosa, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Decatur
- 96.4
- Tuscaloosa
- 96.4
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Decatur
- 84.7
- Tuscaloosa
- 84.4
Diff -0.3 RPP
Rents
- Decatur
- 58.1
- Tuscaloosa
- 58.2
Diff +0.2 RPP
| Category | Decatur | Tuscaloosa | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.2 | 87.7 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 96.4 | 0.0 |
| Services | 84.7 | 84.4 | -0.3 |
| Rents | 58.1 | 58.2 | +0.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Decatur 87.2
Tuscaloosa 87.7
Goods
Decatur 96.4
Tuscaloosa 96.4
Services
Decatur 84.7
Tuscaloosa 84.4
Rents
Decatur 58.1
Tuscaloosa 58.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Decatur would need to be in Tuscaloosa for the same purchasing power:
| In Decatur | In Tuscaloosa | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,292 | +$292 |
| $75,000 | $75,439 | +$439 |
| $100,000 | $100,585 | +$585 |
| $150,000 | $150,877 | +$877 |
$ in Decatur = in Tuscaloosa
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.2 → 87.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Tuscaloosa more expensive than Decatur?
Tuscaloosa is 0.6% more expensive than Decatur. The overall cost index is 87.7 vs 87.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Tuscaloosa equals $100K in Decatur?
A $100,000 salary in Decatur has the same purchasing power as $100,585 in Tuscaloosa. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Decatur and Tuscaloosa?
Rents in Decatur are indexed at 58.1 while Tuscaloosa is at 58.2 (national average = 100). Tuscaloosa 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.