2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Carbondale, IL vs Tuscaloosa, AL

Change Cities
Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Tuscaloosa or is it cheaper to live in Carbondale?
- Tuscaloosa is 13.0% more expensive than Carbondale.

Which city has more affordable housing, Tuscaloosa or Carbondale?
- Tuscaloosa housing costs are 44.7% more expensive than Carbondale housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Carbondale or is Health Care more affordable in Tuscaloosa.
- Health related expenses are 11.2% less in Tuscaloosa.
 Carbondale, ILTuscaloosa, ALUnited States
 Overall  Unlock88.6100
 Food & Groceries95.0  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock114.7100
 Housing43.6  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$192,400$338,100
 Utilities97  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock78.8100
 Miscellaneous132.5  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
DID YOU KNOW?

In order to keep your same standard of living your salary can vary greatly - whether you buy or rent, require child care, or want to include taxes. This is why we are now offering a Premium Salary & Cost of Living Calculator.

Our Premium Calculator Includes:
- Compare Cities cost of living across 9 different categories
- Personal salary calculations can optionally include Home ownership or rental, Child care, and Taxes (with details on state and local sales, income, property and automobile taxes)
- Includes the cost of Child Care for toddlers or infants, at a day care center or home care
- Grocery prices, detailed for 29 staple items in six categories
- Difference in cost of Utilities, including electric, gas and fuel oil
- Health Care Premiums and hospital expenses for major surgeries
- Taxes, Fees and Expenses you should know about, such as local car insurance rates, automobile taxes and registration, commuting costs.
- and 100s of other items you should consider before you relocate

Upgrade to Premium | See Example

Reviews for Carbondale    7 Reviews

I've lived in C'dale for over 30 years. I got an excellent education here - Giant City School was great, though fairly insular and not very diverse (among its drawbacks  More

   |    Reply

Over 17 years ago

I like Carbondale. It is relaxing and an easy way to go about getting a college degree. It has its ups and downs, mainly with the people in the town not recognizing the  More

   |    Reply

All of the comments are negative here and seem to me to be misleading. The idea that you have to have a lot of money in Carbondale is ridiculous. The price of cultural  More

   |    Reply

Start Your Review of Carbondale

Reviews for Tuscaloosa    9 Reviews

This is the deal with Tuscaloosa. If you have strong family support that will keep you on track, you may be okay. Alabama has too many broken, uneducated, poor  More

   |    Reply

We've lived in Tuscaloosa for several years now. It's a diverse, friendly college town -- home of the University of Alabama and it's lovely campus -- that is relatively  More

   |    Reply

Tuscaloosa used to have some character. We had a decent live music scene, an up and coming artist community, affordable housing, and there were even several places for  More

   |    Reply

Start Your Review of Tuscaloosa


Premium Subscription
Includes Cost of Living compares for child care, utilities, transportation, health, taxes, housing for home owners vs renters, weather, insurance premiums and so much more.


The premier source for comprehensive city data for over 30 years.

© Best Places. All rights reserved.