Birmingham vs. Athens Cost of Living Summary

Birmingham is 47.1% more expensive than Athens.

Restaurants
pay 8.4% more in Birmingham
Groceries
pay 70.7% more in Birmingham
Transportation
pay 1.4% more in Birmingham
Housing
pay 95.6% more in Birmingham
Childcare
pay 81.6% more in Birmingham
Entertainment and Sports
pay 13.3% more in Birmingham
Clothing
pay 7.9% less in Birmingham

The cost of housing, childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and transportation in Birmingham are more expensive than in Athens. Notably, housing and childcare are significantly more expensive in Birmingham.

Birmingham vs. Athens Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Birmingham instead of Athens, you would:

pay 8.4% more for restaurants

 
Athens
Birmingham
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $16.80
€15.07
$17.50
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.20
€10.05
$9.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.82
€2.53
$2.70
 

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pay 70.7% more for groceries

 
Athens
Birmingham
Bread
1 loaf
$1.43
€1.28
$3.04
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $7.56
€6.78
$4.76
 
Milk (1 gallon) $7.14
€6.40
$3.99
 

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pay 1.4% more for transportation

 
Athens
Birmingham
Gasoline (1 gallon) $8.72
€7.82
$3.53
 
Monthly public transit pass $30.23
€27.12
$80.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $27,970.99
€25,094.18
$34,617.00
 

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pay 95.6% more for housing

 
Athens
Birmingham
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$30.36
€27.24
$70.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $742.36
€666.01
$1,706.33
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $655.59
€588.16
$1,224.50
 

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pay 81.6% more for childcare

 
Athens
Birmingham
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $573.57
€514.58
$1,350.00
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $12,885.92
€11,560.60
$18,061.33
 

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pay 13.3% more for entertainment and sports

 
Athens
Birmingham
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.60
€5.02
$5.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $4.11
€3.69
$5.74
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$5.60
€5.02
$9.79
 

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pay 7.9% less for clothing

 
Athens
Birmingham
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$91.55
€82.14
$58.50
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$40.01
€35.89
$38.75
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$104.08
€93.38
$108.75
 

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

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