Overall
- Tuscaloosa
- 87.7
- Johnson City
- 87.9
Diff +0.2 RPP
Tuscaloosa vs Johnson City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Johnson City is 0.2% more expensive than Tuscaloosa.
0.2% more expensive
Johnson City, TN is 0.2% more expensive than Tuscaloosa, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.9 vs 87.7). A $100,000 salary in Tuscaloosa buys about the same as $100,235 in Johnson City; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.7 (Tuscaloosa) vs 87.9 (Johnson City)
- $100k in Tuscaloosa ≈ $100,235 purchasing power in Johnson City
- Services drives the gap (-12.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:TN 87.7→87.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × TN
- 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.
Tuscaloosa
87.7
Cost Index
Johnson City
87.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Tuscaloosa, AL and Johnson City, TN are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Johnson City is 12.5 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 Tuscaloosa to $100,235 in Johnson City, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Tuscaloosa
- 96.4
- Johnson City
- 96.2
Diff -0.2 RPP
Services
- Tuscaloosa
- 84.4
- Johnson City
- 71.9
Diff -12.5 RPP
Rents
- Tuscaloosa
- 58.2
- Johnson City
- 63.2
Diff +4.9 RPP
| Category | Tuscaloosa | Johnson City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.7 | 87.9 | +0.2 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 96.2 | -0.2 |
| Services | 84.4 | 71.9 | -12.5 |
| Rents | 58.2 | 63.2 | +4.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Tuscaloosa 87.7
Johnson City 87.9
Goods
Tuscaloosa 96.4
Johnson City 96.2
Services
Tuscaloosa 84.4
Johnson City 71.9
Rents
Tuscaloosa 58.2
Johnson City 63.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Tuscaloosa would need to be in Johnson City for the same purchasing power:
| In Tuscaloosa | In Johnson City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,117 | +$117 |
| $75,000 | $75,176 | +$176 |
| $100,000 | $100,235 | +$235 |
| $150,000 | $150,352 | +$352 |
$ in Tuscaloosa = in Johnson City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.7 → 87.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Johnson City more expensive than Tuscaloosa?
Johnson City is 0.2% more expensive than Tuscaloosa. The overall cost index is 87.9 vs 87.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Johnson City equals $100K in Tuscaloosa?
A $100,000 salary in Tuscaloosa has the same purchasing power as $100,235 in Johnson City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Tuscaloosa and Johnson City?
Rents in Tuscaloosa are indexed at 58.2 while Johnson City is at 63.2 (national average = 100). Johnson City 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.