Overall
- Fairbanks-College
- 103.2
- Tuscaloosa
- 87.7
Diff -15.5 RPP
Fairbanks-College vs Tuscaloosa
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Tuscaloosa is 15% less expensive than Fairbanks-College.
15% less expensive
Tuscaloosa, AL is 15% less expensive than Fairbanks-College, AK on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.7 vs 103.2). A $100,000 salary in Fairbanks-College buys about the same as $84,995 in Tuscaloosa; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.2 (Fairbanks-College) vs 87.7 (Tuscaloosa)
- $100k in Fairbanks-College ≈ $84,995 purchasing power in Tuscaloosa
- Services drives the gap (-35.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AK:AL 103.2→87.7
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE AK × AL
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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
Fairbanks-College, AK and Tuscaloosa, AL sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 15.5 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 Tuscaloosa is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Tuscaloosa 35.4 points lower than Fairbanks-College. 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 Fairbanks-College to $84,995 in Tuscaloosa, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fairbanks-College
- 107.3
- Tuscaloosa
- 96.4
Diff -10.9 RPP
Services
- Fairbanks-College
- 119.8
- Tuscaloosa
- 84.4
Diff -35.4 RPP
Rents
- Fairbanks-College
- 92.6
- Tuscaloosa
- 58.2
Diff -34.3 RPP
| Category | Fairbanks-College | Tuscaloosa | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.2 | 87.7 | -15.5 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 96.4 | -10.9 |
| Services | 119.8 | 84.4 | -35.4 |
| Rents | 92.6 | 58.2 | -34.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fairbanks-College 103.2
Tuscaloosa 87.7
Goods
Fairbanks-College 107.3
Tuscaloosa 96.4
Services
Fairbanks-College 119.8
Tuscaloosa 84.4
Rents
Fairbanks-College 92.6
Tuscaloosa 58.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fairbanks-College would need to be in Tuscaloosa for the same purchasing power:
| In Fairbanks-College | In Tuscaloosa | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $42,498 | $-7,502 |
| $75,000 | $63,747 | $-11,253 |
| $100,000 | $84,995 | $-15,005 |
| $150,000 | $127,493 | $-22,507 |
$ in Fairbanks-College = in Tuscaloosa
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.2 → 87.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Fairbanks-College
103.2
Cost Index
Tuscaloosa
87.7
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Tuscaloosa more expensive than Fairbanks-College?
Tuscaloosa is 15% less expensive than Fairbanks-College. The overall cost index is 87.7 vs 103.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Tuscaloosa equals $100K in Fairbanks-College?
A $100,000 salary in Fairbanks-College has the same purchasing power as $84,995 in Tuscaloosa. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fairbanks-College and Tuscaloosa?
Rents in Fairbanks-College are indexed at 92.6 while Tuscaloosa is at 58.2 (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.