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Lincoln vs Birmingham

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Birmingham is 0.1% more expensive than Lincoln.

0.1% more expensive

Birmingham, AL is 0.1% more expensive than Lincoln, NE on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.6 vs 91.6). A $100,000 salary in Lincoln buys about the same as $100,069 in Birmingham; the largest component gap is rents.

  • Overall RPP 91.6 (Lincoln) vs 91.6 (Birmingham)
  • $100k in Lincoln ≈ $100,069 purchasing power in Birmingham
  • Rents drives the gap (-12.4 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair NE:AL 91.6→91.6

PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR

  • PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
  • CROSS-STATE NE × 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.

Lincoln
91.6
Cost Index
Birmingham
91.6
Cost Index

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

Lincoln, NE and Birmingham, AL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 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 12.4 points lower. But rents 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 Lincoln corresponds to $100,069 in Birmingham.

Category Breakdown

Visual Comparison

Overall
Lincoln
91.6
Birmingham
91.6
Goods
Lincoln
94.1
Birmingham
96.4
Services
Lincoln
76.8
Birmingham
83.8
Rents
Lincoln
84.2
Birmingham
71.9

Vertical line = national average (100)

Salary Equivalents

What a salary in Lincoln would need to be in Birmingham for the same purchasing power:

In Lincoln In Birmingham Difference
$50,000 $50,034 +$34
$75,000 $75,052 +$52
$100,000 $100,069 +$69
$150,000 $150,103 +$103
$ in Lincoln = – in Birmingham

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.6 → 91.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

Reverse: Birmingham → Lincoln Lincoln Details Birmingham Details

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Birmingham more expensive than Lincoln?

Birmingham is 0.1% more expensive than Lincoln. The overall cost index is 91.6 vs 91.6 (national average = 100).

What salary in Birmingham equals $100K in Lincoln?

A $100,000 salary in Lincoln has the same purchasing power as $100,069 in Birmingham. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Lincoln and Birmingham?

Rents in Lincoln are indexed at 84.2 while Birmingham is at 71.9 (national average = 100). Lincoln has higher rents.

Data sources

Data sourced from official public datasets, Regional Price Parities (2024), index where national average = 100. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCost. See our methodology for details.

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.