Moving from Texas to Alabama
Everyone compares rent and groceries. Almost nobody compares the two numbers that actually decide whether a move works: state income tax and property tax. Here is Texas and Alabama, side by side.
Moving to Alabama costs about
-$150/mo
less than Texas each month, renting
Worth knowing
The move pays for itself in about 18 months
Moving costs somewhere around $2,574, and Alabama runs about $150 a month cheaper. After roughly 18 months you are ahead.
Texas vs Alabama at a glance
| Texas | Alabama | |
|---|---|---|
| Median home price | $283,800 | $209,900 |
| Median rent | $1,403/mo | $1,007/mo |
| State income tax | No state income tax | Up to 5.00% |
| Property tax rate | 1.49% | 0.38% |
| Groceries, gas & goods | 98 | 96 |
| Utilities | 88 | 85 |
Price levels are indexes where 100 is the national average. They cover everyday spending only; housing is the two rows above.
What changes each month
| Monthly | TX | AL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | |||
| Housing (median rent)Biggest factor | $1,403 | $1,007 | -$396 |
| Taxes | |||
| State income tax | $0 | $311 | +$311 |
| Local income tax (state average) | None | $7 | +$7 |
| Sales tax (on everyday spending) | $91 | $58 | -$34 |
| Everyday costs | |||
| Groceries, gas & goods | $1,798 | $1,767 | -$31 |
| Utilities | $357 | $346 | -$12 |
| Total | -$150 | ||
What the move itself costs
$2,200 to $4,900
From a container you load yourself up to full-service movers.
Shipping one car adds about $650 to $950, against roughly $250 in fuel and lodging to drive it the 2-day trip yourself.
These are statewide figures. Dallas is not Texas-average and Birmingham is not Alabama-average, so a specific city can look nothing like its state. Compare metro areas instead to narrow it to 387 real places, including which side of a state line you would live on.
Run this with your own numbers
Estimates only, not advice. Housing and income figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (2024); price levels from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024); tax rates are for the 2026 tax year, compiled from state revenue departments and the Tax Foundation. Moving costs are modelled from published ranges rather than quoted. Every figure is a statewide median or average and will not match any particular household.