Moving to Kansas from Alabama
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Alabama to Kansas — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Alabama to Kansas, you would find that Kansas is 1.8% cheaper than Alabama. A $75,000 salary in Alabama would need to be roughly $73,600 in Kansas to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Topeka averages 66°F vs 76°F in Montgomery, making it significantly cooler.
How Far Will Your Money Go?
How your spending power changes when you relocate from Alabama to Kansas.
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $73,600
To maintain the same standard of living in Kansas
Calculate with your salary →The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 5.5% less
Groceries
pay 9.2% more
Transportation
pay 9.4% less
Housing
pay 0.3% less
Childcare
pay 29.0% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 4.1% 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.
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 Kansas cost about 9% less than cities in Alabama.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Alabama and Kansas 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 performs better than Kansas across all safety metrics.
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
Kansas 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 performs better than Kansas across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Kansas performs significantly better than Alabama across all infrastructure metrics.
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
Kansas 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
Kansas 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
What's the Climate Like?
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Montgomery | Topeka |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 63°/40°F (17°/4°C) | 46°/25°F (8°/-4°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 84°/60°F (29°/16°C) | 75°/53°F (24°/12°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 90°/69°F (32°/21°C) | 86°/63°F (30°/17°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 69°/45°F (21°/7°C) | 54°/32°F (12°/0°C) |
View all months
| Month | Montgomery | Topeka |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57°/36°F (14.1°/2.1°C) | 39°/19°F (4.1°/-7.3°C) |
| Feb | 62°/39°F (16.6°/4.0°C) | 44°/23°F (6.9°/-5.1°C) |
| Mar | 70°/45°F (20.9°/7.4°C) | 56°/32°F (13.4°/0.1°C) |
| Apr | 77°/52°F (24.8°/10.9°C) | 66°/43°F (19.1°/5.9°C) |
| May | 84°/61°F (28.9°/15.9°C) | 75°/53°F (24.1°/11.8°C) |
| Jun | 90°/68°F (32.1°/20.1°C) | 84°/63°F (28.9°/17.0°C) |
| Jul | 92°/71°F (33.4°/21.9°C) | 90°/68°F (32.2°/19.9°C) |
| Aug | 92°/71°F (33.3°/21.7°C) | 89°/65°F (31.6°/18.6°C) |
| Sep | 87°/65°F (30.7°/18.4°C) | 80°/55°F (26.7°/13.0°C) |
| Oct | 78°/53°F (25.7°/11.9°C) | 67°/44°F (19.6°/6.6°C) |
| Nov | 69°/44°F (20.6°/6.6°C) | 54°/32°F (12.3°/0.2°C) |
| Dec | 60°/37°F (15.3°/3.0°C) | 41°/21°F (4.9°/-5.9°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Kansas than Alabama?
Headline costs are within a few percent between Kansas and Alabama; rent and dining are where you'll actually feel differences.
How much money do I need to move to Kansas?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $18,400 in Kansas for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Kansas safe?
Alabama performs better than Kansas across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Kansas compared to Alabama?
Kansas performs significantly better than Alabama across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Kansas compared to Alabama?
The average high temperature in Topeka is 66°F, compared to 76°F in Montgomery. Topeka receives around 38.9 in of rainfall per year, while Montgomery gets 53.1 in.
