Birmingham City Guide
ABA Programs in Birmingham
Birmingham has the cheapest housing of any metropolitan area in this guide, a federally designated developmental disabilities center at UAB, and two ABAI-accredited behavior analysis programs within a two-hour drive. This guide covers the ABA programs in Birmingham and reachable from it, Alabama's standalone licensing board, and what a low-cost market does to a modest salary.
Key Takeaways
- 01Birmingham has the cheapest housing of the fifty metros on this site — 28.1% below the national average on the BEA index — and the second-lowest overall price level at 8.4% below.
- 02That turns a modest $53,990 median into about $58,941 in national terms, ahead of Sacramento, Boston, Providence and Philadelphia on real spending power.
- 03UAB runs the metro's ABA route — an M.A. in Education with an applied behavior analysis concentration at $508 per credit in-state — and the same university holds Alabama's federally designated UCEDD and LEND program at the Civitan-Sparks Clinics.
- 04Two ABAI-accredited programs sit within a two-hour drive: Auburn University about two hours southeast and Jacksonville State University about ninety minutes east.
- 05Alabama licenses through a standalone Behavior Analyst Licensing Board, in place since 2014, and its autism insurance mandate — Riley's Law, 2017 — is the framework commercial billing runs through.
Birmingham is the cheapest place to live of the fifty metros covered on this site, and that single fact reshapes everything else about the market here. Housing runs 28.1% below the national average on the BEA index, the lowest figure in this guide, and the whole basket 8.4% below, second-lowest. A $53,990 median that looks poor in nominal terms becomes about $58,941 in national spending power — ahead of Sacramento, Boston, Providence, Philadelphia and every California metro.
The training and clinical infrastructure is better than the metro's profile suggests. UAB runs the metro's ABA route through its School of Education at $508 per credit for Alabama residents, and the same university holds Alabama's federally designated University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and LEND program at the Civitan-Sparks Clinics. Children's of Alabama, adjacent to the UAB campus, is one of the larger pediatric hospitals in the country.
And unusually for a Southern metro, two ABAI-accredited programs are within driving distance. Auburn University is about two hours southeast and Jacksonville State University about ninety minutes east; both hold master's-level accreditation. Alabama has three accredited institutions in total, which is more than most states twice its size.
Metro scope
Includes: Birmingham, Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Bessemer, Homewood, Trussville, Alabaster, Gardendale. The Birmingham metro, covering Jefferson County and the counties around it — the city and its over-the-mountain suburbs through Homewood, Vestavia Hills and Hoover, Bessemer to the southwest, and the outlying communities in Shelby, St. Clair, Blount and Walker counties.
Note: Alabama is a single-state metro, and its licensing arrangement is one of the better ones. Alabama licenses behavior analysts through the Alabama Behavior Analyst Licensing Board, a standalone board for the profession, and has since 2014. Your BCBA is the qualifying credential and the state license is your practice authority. A standalone board rather than a psychology or counseling board taking on an extra remit generally means rules written by people who do the work. Alabama also has an autism insurance mandate — Riley's Law, enacted in 2017 — which established coverage requirements for behavioral treatment and is the framework most commercial billing in this state runs through.
The programs
The BCBA programs in Birmingham and within reach
2 programs
University of Alabama at Birmingham — M.A. in Education, Applied Behavior Analysis concentration
UAB campus, southside Birmingham · Birmingham, AL · On-campus and online; the campus adjoins the medical district
- Tuition
- $508 per credit hour in-state, $1,247 per credit hour out-of-state
- Length
- 30 to 43 credits depending on track, 2 years
- Format
- On-campus and online
- Accreditation
- BACB-aligned coursework for BCBA Pathway 2; UAB School of Education
- Part-time
- Built to accommodate practicing teachers and behavior technicians
- The only ABA route based in the Birmingham metro
- At $508 per credit in-state, inexpensive even before the metro's cost of living is considered
- The same university holds Alabama's UCEDD and LEND program at the Civitan-Sparks Clinics, a few minutes from the School of Education
- The UAB campus adjoins Children's of Alabama, which concentrates training and clinical placement in one district
- The out-of-state rate of $1,247 per credit is nearly two and a half times the resident figure
Auburn University — M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis
Auburn, about two hours southeast · Auburn, AL · On-campus and online; a relocation or an online enrollment rather than a commute
- Tuition
- $630 per credit hour in-state, $1,890 per credit hour out-of-state
- Length
- 45 credits, 2 years
- Format
- On-campus with online options
- Accreditation
- ABAI-accredited at master's level; Auburn University Department of Psychological Sciences
- Part-time
- Confirm pacing with the department
- ABAI-accredited at master's level, and the strongest credential within reach of Birmingham
- A psychology-department degree, which suits clinical and research careers rather than school-based ones
- At 45 credits it is the longest of the Alabama options, which is the trade for the accreditation
- Auburn does not publish a per-credit tuition rate on its ABA program page; the figures here come from the university's published graduate rates
- The out-of-state rate of $1,890 per credit is three times the resident figure — Alabama residency matters a great deal here
Cost of living
What it costs to live in Birmingham while you study
Birmingham is the cheapest metro in this guide on housing and the second cheapest overall. The BEA index puts housing 28.1% below the national average and the whole basket 8.4% below. Against a $53,990 median that is not a marginal adjustment — it is most of the difference between a difficult salary and a comfortable one. The metro is spread across seven counties with over-the-mountain suburbs and a car-based layout, so mileage is the practical cost rather than rent.
Housing, 2024
71.9
28.1% below the national average
Everything, 2024
91.6
8.4% below the national average
Metro median pay covers
$58,941
of national-average spending
Housing runs 28.1% below the national average, which is less of a factor here than the rest of the basket.
Both figures are BEA Regional Price Parities for Birmingham, AL, 2024, where the national average is 100. Housing is the services-housing component; the second figure is the whole basket.
Housing price level
28.1% below the national average
BEA Regional Price Parity for housing, 2024 — the cheapest of the fifty metros in this guide
All-items price level
8.4% below the national average
BEA Regional Price Parity, all items, 2024; second-lowest here after Oklahoma City
Transit
BJCTA bus
Limited; the metro is a car proposition
Car
Required for fieldwork
A seven-county metro with placements spread well beyond Jefferson County
Tuition, UAB M.A. (in-state)
$508 per credit hour
$1,247 per credit hour out-of-state; 30 to 43 credits depending on track
Distance to an accredited program
90 minutes to 2 hours
Jacksonville State to the east and Auburn to the southeast both hold ABAI accreditation
Clinical fieldwork
BCBA certification in Birmingham: where metro students do supervised fieldwork
Birmingham concentrates its clinical, research and training capacity into one district. UAB holds Alabama's federally designated UCEDD and LEND program at the Civitan-Sparks Clinics, Children's of Alabama adjoins the campus, and the School of Education sits a few minutes away. For a metro of 1.2 million, having the state's UCEDD, its largest children's hospital and its main ABA training route within walking distance of each other is unusual.
UAB Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities
The Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at UAB and the Civitan-Sparks Clinics holds Alabama's UCEDD designation and runs the state's LEND interdisciplinary training program.
Children's of Alabama
Children's of Alabama is one of the larger pediatric hospitals in the United States, adjoining the UAB campus, and the top of the local clinical tier.
Glenwood Autism and Behavioral Health Center
Glenwood is a long-established Birmingham provider of autism and behavioral health services across residential, school and community programs.
Birmingham and Jefferson County schools
Birmingham City Schools serves the urban core and Jefferson County Schools the surrounding suburbs, with the over-the-mountain districts adding several more.
Riley's Law providers
Alabama's 2017 autism insurance mandate established coverage requirements for behavioral treatment, and the commercial provider layer across the metro bills through that framework.
Hiring market
Major ABA employers across the Birmingham metro
UAB dominates this market in a way few institutions dominate any metro: the university runs the ABA training route, holds the state UCEDD and LEND program, operates the academic health system, and adjoins the children's hospital. Below that sit the school districts and a private agency layer working under Riley's Law and Alabama Medicaid. The concentration means the professional network is small and easy to enter.
UAB Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities
University center for developmental disabilities
Alabama's UCEDD and LEND program at the Civitan-Sparks Clinics. A training destination and an employer for interdisciplinary and research-affiliated work.
Children's of Alabama
Pediatric hospital
One of the larger children's hospitals in the country, adjoining the UAB campus, with developmental and behavioral services.
Glenwood Autism and Behavioral Health Center
Nonprofit autism and behavioral health provider
A long-established Birmingham organization running residential, school and community programs, and a substantial behavior-analytic employer.
Jefferson County Schools
Public school district
The metro's largest suburban district, employing behavior specialists across special education services with Alabama public pension membership.
Birmingham City Schools
Public school district
The urban core district, serving a higher-need student population than the surrounding suburbs.
Metro pay
BCBA salary in the Birmingham metro
Metro median
$53,990
National median
$59,350
10th percentile
$38,570
90th percentile
$76,540
BLS metro median, May 2025
$53,990
$5,360 below the national median
Cost of living, 2024
91.6
8.4% below the national average
Worth nationally
$58,941
the same pay in national-average dollars
Because prices run 8.4% below the national average, $53,990 here goes about as far as $58,941 would nationally.
BLS does not publish a separate occupation for behavior analysts. This is the May 2025 median for SOC 21-1018 (Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors), the category BCBAs are counted in, which also contains counseling roles that typically pay less. Read it as a floor for the metro, not as BCBA pay. Wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Birmingham, AL. Cost of living is the BEA Regional Price Parity for the metro, all items, 2024, where the national average is 100. It is the most recent year BEA publishes, so it sits one year behind the wage figure. Prices: BEA Regional Price Parities.
The published figure for this metro is $53,990, the BLS OEWS May 2025 median for SOC 21-1018, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, across the Birmingham metro. That is $5,360 below the national median of $59,350 for the same code. BLS publishes no separate occupation for behavior analysts, and SOC 21-1018 also contains counseling roles requiring neither a master's nor board certification, so read $53,990 as a floor rather than as BCBA pay.
Then the adjustment, which is the largest housing effect in this guide. Prices across the metro run 8.4% below the national average — second-lowest of the fifty here — so $53,990 goes about as far as $58,941 would nationally. Housing alone runs 28.1% below the national average, the cheapest figure on this site. On real terms Birmingham beats Sacramento, Boston, Providence, Philadelphia, Baltimore and every California metro, all of which pay substantially more in nominal dollars.
The 10th percentile is $38,570 and the 90th is $76,540 — the second-lowest ceiling in this guide, and the metro's real weakness. A low ceiling in a low-cost market is a different proposition from a low ceiling in an expensive one, but it still caps what a senior career here can earn. The sensible read: Birmingham is unusually good value early and limited later. For national context see our BCBA salary guide.
Other cities
Other cities in Alabama
Birmingham is currently the only Alabama metro with its own guide. The state guide carries every program in Alabama plus the licensure picture.
Nearby metros
If you are flexible on metro
Alabama's accredited programs are outside Birmingham and its bigger markets are outside the state. Atlanta is two and a half hours east under a different license; Nashville is three hours north.
ABA Programs in Atlanta
Two and a half hours east, in the Georgia licensing regime, with a higher median and a larger program market.
ABA Programs in Nashville
Three hours north, with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and the second-lowest median in this guide.
ABA Programs in Alabama
The full state picture: UAB, Auburn and the state's other programs, the 2014 license, and Riley's Law.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
01How many ABA programs are in Birmingham?+
02Do I need a license to practice ABA in Birmingham?+
03How much do BCBAs make in Birmingham?+
04Where do Birmingham ABA students do supervised fieldwork?+
05Is the low cost of living really enough to offset the pay?+
06Is Birmingham a good place to start a BCBA career?+
Sources
- University of Alabama at Birmingham, graduate programs in special education
- Auburn University, M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis
- UAB Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and Civitan-Sparks Clinics (UCEDD/LEND)
- BACB, U.S. Licensure of Behavior Analysts by State
- BLS OEWS May 2025, Birmingham MSA (SOC 21-1018)
- Children's of Alabama
- ABAI Accredited Programs Directory