What salary do you need to live in Tuscaloosa, AL?

Rent, home values and prices in Tuscaloosa

Median gross rent, meaning contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities, runs $863, $1,011 and $1,109 a month for one, two and three bedrooms across Tuscaloosa, AL. The largest of those is 29% more than the smallest.

Buying is the other half of the housing picture: owners put the median home in Tuscaloosa, AL at $230,700. With median household income at $61,517, a typical home costs 3.8× a typical income, close to the middle of the range across US metros.

The Regional Price Parity, BEA's index of local prices with the US at 100, is 87.7 here. Below 100 means a paycheck stretches further: $100,000 in Tuscaloosa has the buying power of roughly $113,996 at national average prices.

Tuscaloosa: the pre-tax income for each grade

The salary lines for a two-bedroom household land at $26,000 for Tight, $51,000 for Okay and $102,000 for Comfortable. The gap between the Okay and Comfortable lines alone is $51,000, which says how much extra income it takes to make housing feel roomy here rather than merely workable.

Reaching Royal takes $260,000 — 2.5× the Comfortable line — because the last points come slowly once rent is already a small share.

Each figure is the lowest income, to the next $1,000, at which the calculator itself would show that grade for a two-bedroom in Tuscaloosa.

Scores at $50K, $75K, $100K and $150K in Tuscaloosa

On $75,000, a one-bedroom scores 59 and a three-bedroom 55, both Okay; the extra bedrooms cost points but not a grade.

The two-bedroom column turns Comfortable at the $150,000 row. One row up, $100,000 scores 65.

Where Tuscaloosa falls nationally

Out of 387 metros, Tuscaloosa has the 341st highest price parity and the 280th highest two-bedroom rent, which puts it in the bottom quarter on overall prices and near the middle on rent.

For a sense of scale, the metros just above and below it on two-bedroom rent are Greenville, NC ($1,011) and Gulfport-Biloxi, MS ($1,008).

Comparing Tuscaloosa with Alabama

Statewide, Alabama's median two-bedroom rent is $960 and its median home value $209,900. Tuscaloosa's rent is +5% against that, and its home value +10%; the price parity is 87.7 versus 88.8 for the state.

Run Alabama's statewide medians through the same score and Comfortable begins at $97,000; Tuscaloosa's line is +5% from that.

Looking for somewhere comparable without leaving Alabama? Mobile, AL, Auburn-Opelika, AL, and Columbus, GA-AL have the closest mix of rent and overall prices.

The median Tuscaloosa household

The median household in the metro earns $61,517 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 51, Okay. Reaching Comfortable would take $40,483 more than the median household earns. Statewide, the Alabama median household ($63,999) grades Okay on the state's own medians. A household figure may pool several earners, unlike a single salary.

These are pre-tax estimates from public statistics, not financial advice.