Moving to Delaware from Alabama
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Alabama to Delaware — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Alabama to Delaware, you would find that Delaware is 15.5% more expensive than Alabama. A $75,000 salary in Alabama would need to be roughly $86,600 in Delaware to maintain the same lifestyle. Huntsville and Wilmington are about 700 mi apart.
Is Delaware cheaper than Alabama?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 12.2% less
Groceries
pay 8.9% more
Transportation
pay 5.4% less
Housing
pay 40.5% more
Childcare
pay 44.5% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 10.0% more
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in Delaware?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $86,600
To maintain the same standard of living in Delaware
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in Delaware cost about 8% less than cities in Alabama.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Alabama and Delaware stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Alabama generally does better on safety, though Delaware leads in violent crime rate.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Delaware performs significantly better than Alabama across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Alabama generally does better on what about housing?, though Delaware leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Alabama generally does better on infrastructure, though Delaware leads in internet access.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Delaware generally does better on employment & economy, though Alabama leads in unemployment rate.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Delaware performs significantly better than Alabama across all family life metrics.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in Delaware vs Alabama
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Huntsville | Dover |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 57°/36°F (14°/2°C) | 48°/31°F (9°/-1°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 81°/59°F (27°/15°C) | 75°/54°F (24°/12°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 89°/67°F (32°/20°C) | 84°/65°F (29°/18°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 64°/42°F (18°/6°C) | 58°/40°F (15°/4°C) |
View all months
| Month | Huntsville | Dover |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 51°/32°F (10.7°/-0.1°C) | 43°/27°F (6.3°/-2.7°C) |
| Feb | 56°/35°F (13.3°/1.9°C) | 47°/29°F (8.3°/-1.7°C) |
| Mar | 65°/42°F (18.3°/5.7°C) | 55°/36°F (12.7°/2.0°C) |
| Apr | 74°/50°F (23.1°/10.0°C) | 66°/44°F (18.7°/6.8°C) |
| May | 81°/59°F (27.4°/15.2°C) | 75°/54°F (23.7°/12.1°C) |
| Jun | 88°/67°F (31.2°/19.5°C) | 83°/63°F (28.4°/17.4°C) |
| Jul | 91°/70°F (32.6°/21.3°C) | 87°/68°F (30.6°/20.2°C) |
| Aug | 91°/69°F (32.7°/20.8°C) | 85°/67°F (29.6°/19.4°C) |
| Sep | 85°/62°F (29.4°/16.9°C) | 79°/60°F (26.3°/15.6°C) |
| Oct | 75°/51°F (23.7°/10.6°C) | 69°/49°F (20.4°/9.3°C) |
| Nov | 64°/42°F (17.6°/5.4°C) | 58°/40°F (14.7°/4.3°C) |
| Dec | 53°/34°F (11.9°/1.3°C) | 47°/31°F (8.6°/-0.6°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Delaware than Alabama?
Day-to-day costs in Delaware run about 15% higher than Alabama on average; specific cities can swing further.
How much money do I need to move to Delaware?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $21,650 in Delaware for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Delaware safe?
Alabama generally does better on safety, though Delaware leads in violent crime rate.
How is healthcare in Delaware compared to Alabama?
Delaware performs significantly better than Alabama across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Delaware compared to Alabama?
The average high temperature in Dover is 66°F, compared to 73°F in Huntsville. Dover receives around 46.1 in of rainfall per year, while Huntsville gets 54.3 in.
