2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Houston, TX vs Birmingham, AL

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Birmingham or is it cheaper to live in Houston?
- Birmingham is 10.2% less expensive than Houston.

Which city has more affordable housing, Birmingham or Houston?
- Birmingham housing costs are 64.1% less expensive than Houston housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Houston or is Health Care more affordable in Birmingham.
- Health related expenses are 28.3% more in Birmingham.
 Houston, TXBirmingham, ALUnited States
 Overall  Unlock87.0100
 Food & Groceries98.1  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock122.0100
 Housing75.4  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$101,300$338,100
 Utilities97  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock88.4100
 Miscellaneous105.9  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Houston    371 Reviews

Over 3 years ago

I moved to Houston from the San Francisco Bay area in 1991 after college but I have always had family here. Houston is not what you think of when you think of Texas  More

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Over 3 years ago

There's definitely lots of jobs/economic opportunity. It's quite racially diverse if that's your thing. Houston has awful urban sprawl. Expect awful traffic. Hot as hell  More

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Over 3 years ago

There's definitely lots of jobs/economic opportunity. It's quite racially diverse if that's your thing. Houston has awful urban sprawl. Expect awful traffic. Hot as hell  More

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Reviews for Birmingham    25 Reviews

Birmingham is better than ever, meaning it is beginning to gain half of the stuff a normal city of its size has. The food scene is definitely an exception and is above  More

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Lived in the Birmingham for years. The small city was divided by the historical train tracks into the north half and the south one. The north section was the  More

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Over 5 years ago

I moved to Birmingham 6.5 years ago for a new job. The city is very boring in my opinion, there isn't much to do over the weekend except shopping or eating out. Summer  More

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