2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Birmingham, AL vs Bakersfield, CA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Bakersfield or is it cheaper to live in Birmingham?
- Bakersfield is 14.7% more expensive than Birmingham.

Which city has more affordable housing, Bakersfield or Birmingham?
- Bakersfield housing costs are 293.7% more expensive than Birmingham housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Birmingham or is Health Care more affordable in Bakersfield.
- Health related expenses are 24.9% less in Bakersfield.
 Birmingham, ALBakersfield, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock99.8100
 Food & Groceries93.3  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock91.6100
 Housing27.1  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$349,300$338,100
 Utilities101  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock103.6100
 Miscellaneous82.6  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Birmingham    25 Reviews

Birmingham is better than ever, meaning it is beginning to gain half of the stuff a normal city of its size has. The food scene is definitely an exception and is above  More

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Lived in the Birmingham for years. The small city was divided by the historical train tracks into the north half and the south one. The north section was the  More

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Over 5 years ago

I moved to Birmingham 6.5 years ago for a new job. The city is very boring in my opinion, there isn't much to do over the weekend except shopping or eating out. Summer  More

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Reviews for Bakersfield    75 Reviews

I am a millennial, born and raised here. As someone who wrestled with staying for years, there are a lot of valid reasons to not come to Bakersfield. Air quality, summer  More

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Over 4 years ago

I have lived here all of my life. 40+ years. It used to be fun and kinda safe but now it is so scary to go outside. We are literally a homeless dumping ground and there  More

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I moved here from Seattle 25 years ago, when it had a population of 200,000, and practically the only place to get coffee was a place called “Duke’s Ranch”. Why did I  More

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