Montgomery, AL
Montgomery, AL Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Montgomery, AL Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Montgomery ranks 210th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 227th for income. A household earns $66,706 a year while median rent runs $1,141/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 10% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is cost of living (53rd of 300), while health is the soft spot (257th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 112th and home prices 56th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Montgomery, your take-home is worth about $64,398 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 227th of 300↑23.9%$66,706
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 53rd of 30090 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $74,381
- Per-capita income
- $39,379
- Full-time pay
- $43,030
Housing
- Median rent
- 112th of 300↑26.9%$1,141/mo
- Home value
- 56th of 300↑47.5%$220,500
- Property tax
- $791/yr · 0.4%
- Sales tax
- 9.43%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 63rd of 3003.5%
- Bachelor's+
- 153rd of 30033.2%
- Avg commute
- 175th of 30024.8 min
People
- Population
- 386,587
- Population change
- +3.7%
- Median age
- 38.8 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 4.3%
- Broadband
- 92.8%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 97th of 30042
- Natural-hazard loss
- 165th of 300$13/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 257th of 30022.7%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 10.1%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Cost of living
- + Home prices
- + Job market
- + Air quality
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — montgomery ap.
What jobs pay in Montgomery
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Pharmacists
- $136,620
- IT managers
- $134,810
- Financial managers
- $131,570
- Lawyers
- $125,290
- Software developers
- $110,620
- General & operations managers
- $107,980
- Civil engineers
- $97,470
- Registered nurses
- $79,570
- Accountants & auditors
- $75,040
- Web developers
- $66,900
- Secondary school teachers
- $61,720
- Elementary school teachers
- $59,610
- Plumbers
- $57,960
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $54,860
- Electricians
- $49,910
- Police officers
- $48,490
- Carpenters
- $47,360
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $38,660
- Customer service reps
- $36,960
- Construction laborers
- $36,630
- Janitors
- $30,450
- Retail salespersons
- $29,650
- Cashiers
- $28,330
- Waiters & waitresses
- $26,360
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Montgomery metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Alabama are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Florida1,723
- Georgia1,503
- Mississippi901
- Louisiana581
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Montgomery
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Montgomery metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Montgomery metro?
- Median gross rent across the Montgomery, AL Metro Area is $1,141 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Montgomery.
- What is the median household income in the Montgomery metro?
- A typical household in the Montgomery, AL Metro Area earns $66,706 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Montgomery expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Montgomery, AL Metro Area runs about 10% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Montgomery metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $74,381 (versus its face value of $66,706). CityLedger rates the Montgomery, AL Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Montgomery metro?
- The median home value across the Montgomery, AL Metro Area is $220,500 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Montgomery metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Montgomery, AL Metro Area is 3.5% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).