Moving to Alabama from Louisiana
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Louisiana to Alabama — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Louisiana to Alabama, you would find that Alabama is 1.4% cheaper than Louisiana. A $75,000 salary in Louisiana would need to be roughly $74,000 in Alabama to maintain the same lifestyle. New Orleans and Huntsville are about 390 mi apart.
Is Alabama cheaper than Louisiana?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 3.1% less
Groceries
pay 6.9% less
Transportation
pay 3.1% more
Housing
pay 4.7% less
Childcare
pay 27.1% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 3.7% 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 Alabama?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $74,000
To maintain the same standard of living in Alabama
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 Alabama cost about 2% less than cities in Louisiana.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Louisiana and Alabama 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 significantly better than Louisiana 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
Alabama generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Louisiana leads in uninsured rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Alabama performs significantly better than Louisiana across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Alabama performs significantly better than Louisiana 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
Alabama generally does better on employment & economy, though Louisiana leads in gdp per capita.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Alabama performs significantly better than Louisiana 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 Alabama vs Louisiana
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | New Orleans | Huntsville |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 65°/51°F (18°/10°C) | 57°/36°F (14°/2°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 84°/70°F (29°/21°C) | 81°/59°F (27°/15°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 89°/77°F (32°/25°C) | 89°/67°F (32°/20°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 71°/57°F (21°/14°C) | 64°/42°F (18°/6°C) |
View all months
| Month | New Orleans | Huntsville |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 60°/46°F (15.6°/8.0°C) | 51°/32°F (10.7°/-0.1°C) |
| Feb | 64°/50°F (17.9°/9.9°C) | 56°/35°F (13.3°/1.9°C) |
| Mar | 71°/56°F (21.4°/13.3°C) | 65°/42°F (18.3°/5.7°C) |
| Apr | 77°/63°F (25.2°/17.1°C) | 74°/50°F (23.1°/10.0°C) |
| May | 85°/71°F (29.2°/21.5°C) | 81°/59°F (27.4°/15.2°C) |
| Jun | 89°/76°F (31.8°/24.4°C) | 88°/67°F (31.2°/19.5°C) |
| Jul | 90°/78°F (32.5°/25.5°C) | 91°/70°F (32.6°/21.3°C) |
| Aug | 91°/78°F (32.7°/25.7°C) | 91°/69°F (32.7°/20.8°C) |
| Sep | 87°/75°F (30.4°/23.7°C) | 85°/62°F (29.4°/16.9°C) |
| Oct | 79°/66°F (25.9°/18.9°C) | 75°/51°F (23.7°/10.6°C) |
| Nov | 71°/57°F (21.5°/13.7°C) | 64°/42°F (17.6°/5.4°C) |
| Dec | 63°/49°F (17.0°/9.3°C) | 53°/34°F (11.9°/1.3°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Alabama than Louisiana?
Headline costs are within a few percent between Alabama and Louisiana; rent and dining are where you'll actually feel differences.
How much money do I need to move to Alabama?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $18,500 in Alabama for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Alabama safe?
Alabama performs significantly better than Louisiana across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Alabama compared to Louisiana?
Alabama generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Louisiana leads in uninsured rate.
What's the weather like in Alabama compared to Louisiana?
The average high temperature in Huntsville is 73°F, compared to 77°F in New Orleans. Huntsville receives around 54.3 in of rainfall per year, while New Orleans gets 56.8 in.
