Moving to Montana from Alabama
What to Expect
Considering a move from Alabama to Montana? Here's how the two compare on cost, climate, safety, and more.
If you moved from Alabama to Montana, you would find that Montana is 13.1% more expensive than Alabama. A $75,000 salary in Alabama would need to be roughly $84,900 in Montana to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Billings averages 64°F vs 73°F in Huntsville, making it significantly cooler. Huntsville and Billings are about 1,400 mi apart.
Is Montana cheaper than Alabama?
How key spending categories compare
Restaurants
pay 11.6% more
Groceries
pay 3.6% more
Transportation
pay 3.3% less
Housing
pay 30.4% more
Childcare
pay 0.2% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 9.5% 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 Montana?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $84,900
To maintain the same standard of living in Montana
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 Montana cost about 9% more than cities in Alabama.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
The numbers behind daily life in Montana compared to Alabama.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Alabama performs better than Montana 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
Montana 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 Montana across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Montana 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
Montana 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
Montana 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 Montana vs Alabama
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Huntsville | Billings |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 57°/36°F (14°/2°C) | 47°/20°F (8°/-7°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 81°/59°F (27°/15°C) | 72°/43°F (22°/6°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 89°/67°F (32°/20°C) | 85°/52°F (30°/11°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 64°/42°F (18°/6°C) | 51°/25°F (11°/-4°C) |
View all months
| Month | Huntsville | Billings |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 51°/32°F (10.7°/-0.1°C) | 41°/16°F (4.8°/-9.1°C) |
| Feb | 56°/35°F (13.3°/1.9°C) | 45°/19°F (7.3°/-7.3°C) |
| Mar | 65°/42°F (18.3°/5.7°C) | 54°/26°F (12.3°/-3.5°C) |
| Apr | 74°/50°F (23.1°/10.0°C) | 63°/34°F (17.2°/1.1°C) |
| May | 81°/59°F (27.4°/15.2°C) | 72°/43°F (22.3°/5.9°C) |
| Jun | 88°/67°F (31.2°/19.5°C) | 81°/51°F (27.0°/10.6°C) |
| Jul | 91°/70°F (32.6°/21.3°C) | 89°/57°F (31.9°/13.8°C) |
| Aug | 91°/69°F (32.7°/20.8°C) | 89°/55°F (31.5°/12.6°C) |
| Sep | 85°/62°F (29.4°/16.9°C) | 78°/45°F (25.5°/7.2°C) |
| Oct | 75°/51°F (23.7°/10.6°C) | 65°/35°F (18.1°/1.6°C) |
| Nov | 64°/42°F (17.6°/5.4°C) | 49°/24°F (9.7°/-4.2°C) |
| Dec | 53°/34°F (11.9°/1.3°C) | 39°/15°F (4.0°/-9.2°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Montana than Alabama?
On average Montana is around 13% pricier than Alabama, with notable variation by city.
How much money do I need to move to Montana?
Budget about $21,225 for 3 months in Montana (based on a $75,000 comparable annual salary), then add the one-off costs: movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Montana safe?
Alabama performs better than Montana across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Montana compared to Alabama?
Montana performs significantly better than Alabama across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Montana compared to Alabama?
The average high temperature in Billings is 64°F, compared to 73°F in Huntsville. Billings receives around 14.2 in of rainfall per year, while Huntsville gets 54.3 in.
