Cost of living comparison
compared to
Birmingham vs. Philadelphia Cost of Living Summary
Birmingham is 10.1% cheaper than Philadelphia.
Birmingham vs. Philadelphia Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Birmingham instead of Philadelphia, you would:
pay 20.6% less for restaurants
|
Philadelphia
|
Birmingham
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$22.00
|
$17.50
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.65
|
$9.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.05
|
$2.70
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.24
|
$2.33
|
|
Philadelphia vs. Birmingham - Cost of restaurants
pay 1.8% more for groceries
|
Philadelphia
|
Birmingham
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.44
|
$3.04
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.10
|
$4.76
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.45
|
$3.99
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.98
|
$4.16
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.80
|
$5.04
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.50
|
$2.94
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.71
|
$0.61
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.32
|
$3.58
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.35
|
$2.49
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.26
|
$1.92
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.42
|
$2.40
|
|
Philadelphia vs. Birmingham - Cost of groceries
pay 12.4% less for transportation
|
Philadelphia
|
Birmingham
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.25
|
$3.53
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$100.00
|
$80.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,446.00
|
$34,617.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$15.18
|
$15.73
|
|
Philadelphia vs. Birmingham - Cost of transportation
pay 4.7% less for housing
|
Philadelphia
|
Birmingham
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$64.91
|
$70.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,988.50
|
$1,706.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,327.23
|
$1,224.50
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$165.44
|
$218.90
|
|
Philadelphia vs. Birmingham - Cost of housing
pay 49.0% less for childcare
|
Philadelphia
|
Birmingham
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,225.27
|
$1,350.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$42,123.57
|
$18,061.33
|
|
Philadelphia vs. Birmingham - Cost of childcare
pay 19.7% less for entertainment and sports
|
Philadelphia
|
Birmingham
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$5.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.28
|
$5.74
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$13.00
|
$9.79
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$82.11
|
$40.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.50
|
$16.00
|
|
Philadelphia vs. Birmingham - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 0.6% more for clothing
|
Philadelphia
|
Birmingham
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$48.69
|
$58.50
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$47.18
|
$38.75
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$103.25
|
$108.75
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$139.54
|
$137.25
|
|
Philadelphia vs. Birmingham - Cost of clothing
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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