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CityLedger

Mobile vs Montgomery

Metro-area medians — Mobile, AL Metro Area vs Montgomery, AL Metro Area — not the cities proper.

Montgomery comes out ahead, winning 6 of the 8 clearly-decided measures.

Mobile and Montgomery cost about the same to live in, but Montgomery households earn about 10% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Montgomery.

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.

Mobile, AL
$57,754
take-home / yr · 23% to tax
$65,556
real value after local prices
Montgomery, AL
$57,754
take-home / yr · 23% to tax
$64,398
real value after local prices

On $75,000 for just you, Mobile leaves you about $1,158/yr better off after tax and local prices.

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.

Measure
Mobile
Montgomery
Livability (CityLedger)
30/100
47/100
Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
88.1
89.7
Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
$68,536
$74,381
Median household income
$60,379
$66,706
Median rent
$1,106/mo
$1,141/mo
Median home value
$207,400
$220,500
Unemployment
5.6%
3.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher
27.5%
33.2%
Average commute
24.7 min
24.8 min
Air quality (median AQI)
45
42
Avg temperature
68°F
66°F

Choose Mobile for

  • + Median rent
  • + Median home value
Full Mobile profile →

Choose Montgomery for

  • + Livability (CityLedger)
  • + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
  • + Median household income
  • + Unemployment
  • + Bachelor's degree or higher
  • + Air quality (median AQI)
Full Montgomery profile →

Mobile vs Montgomery — frequently asked

Is Mobile cheaper than Montgomery?
They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Mobile and Montgomery metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
Which has higher household income, Mobile or Montgomery?
Montgomery has the higher median household income — $66,706 versus $60,379 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 10% more.
Does a paycheck go further in Mobile or Montgomery?
A paycheck stretches further in Montgomery. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $74,381 there versus $68,536 in Mobile.
Which has cheaper rent, Mobile or Montgomery?
Mobile has cheaper rent — a median of $1,106/mo versus $1,141/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).