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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Birmingham to Oklahoma City

Birmingham, AL vs Oklahoma City, OK

Simple answer

You'd likely save $111 a month in Oklahoma City.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is Fair Market Rent. The 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gap is $111: Birmingham is higher at $1,375 versus $1,264.

Alabama taxes wages at rates up to 5.00%. Oklahoma taxes wages at rates up to 4.50%. Combined sales tax differs by 0.4 percentage points, higher in Alabama. The effective property tax gap is 0.37 percentage points, higher in Oklahoma.

After a move from Alabama to Oklahoma, these benefit results change for a family of four at $40,000 and a single adult at $18,000: Marketplace premium tax credits, Medicaid and CHIP.

A $75,000 salary in Birmingham lines up with about $73,988 in Oklahoma City on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Birmingham

Birmingham, AL

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,375
HUD area
Birmingham-Hoover, AL HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,262
All-items price parity
91.6
Goods price parity
96.4
Utilities price parity
83.8
Mean commute
27.3 min
Median household income
$74,954

Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City, OK

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,264
HUD area
Oklahoma City, OK HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,162
All-items price parity
90.4
Goods price parity
93.8
Utilities price parity
74.1
Mean commute
23.5 min
Median household income
$72,930

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$73,988

Salary in Oklahoma City that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$72,736

Gross salary in Oklahoma City whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$68,945

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxAlabamaOklahoma
State income tax on wagesup to 5.00%up to 4.50%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20269.5%9.1%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.38%0.75%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $1,526 a year in Alabama and $3,011 in Oklahoma. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Oklahoma

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in Alabama and once in Oklahoma. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    BirminghamLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    BirminghamLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • WIC

    BirminghamLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • School meals

    BirminghamLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    BirminghamMaybe

    Oklahoma CityMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    BirminghamLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    BirminghamLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    BirminghamLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    BirminghamLikely eligible

    Oklahoma CityLikely eligible

  • SSI

    BirminghamUnlikely

    Oklahoma CityUnlikely

Marketplace premium tax credits changes. In Birmingham the result is “Likely inside the 2026 subsidy range.” In Oklahoma City it is “Unlikely — Medicaid is the closer program.” Oklahoma expanded Medicaid, and this income is in the Medicaid range. Marketplace subsidies are usually not the program in that case.

Medicaid guide for Oklahoma · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Birmingham

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Birmingham.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.