Birmingham vs. Nashville Cost of Living Summary

Birmingham is 5.3% cheaper than Nashville.

Restaurants
pay 12.4% less in Birmingham
Groceries
pay 8.0% more in Birmingham
Transportation
pay 1.4% less in Birmingham
Housing
pay 7.8% less in Birmingham
Childcare
pay 25.9% less in Birmingham
Entertainment and Sports
pay 15.5% less in Birmingham
Clothing
pay 2.9% more in Birmingham

The cost of groceries and clothing in Birmingham are more expensive than in Nashville. Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, housing, and transportation are lower in Birmingham.

Birmingham vs. Nashville Cost Breakdown

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

pay 12.4% less for restaurants

 
Nashville
Birmingham
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $18.25
 
$17.50
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$12.00
 
$9.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.91
 
$2.70
 

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pay 8.0% more for groceries

 
Nashville
Birmingham
Bread
1 loaf
$3.87
 
$3.04
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.49
 
$4.76
 
Milk (1 gallon) $4.24
 
$3.99
 

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pay 1.4% less for transportation

 
Nashville
Birmingham
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.87
 
$3.53
 
Monthly public transit pass $65.00
 
$80.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $37,359.00
 
$34,617.00
 

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pay 7.8% less for housing

 
Nashville
Birmingham
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$75.87
 
$70.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,973.75
 
$1,706.33
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,398.22
 
$1,224.50
 

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pay 25.9% less for childcare

 
Nashville
Birmingham
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,460.42
 
$1,350.00
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $30,400.00
 
$18,061.33
 

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pay 15.5% less for entertainment and sports

 
Nashville
Birmingham
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $7.00
 
$5.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $6.76
 
$5.74
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$10.40
 
$9.79
 

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pay 2.9% more for clothing

 
Nashville
Birmingham
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$55.07
 
$58.50
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$42.94
 
$38.75
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$92.24
 
$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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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