Best PlacesAlabama Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Alabama, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Alabama ranks 47th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on walkability and biking. It does better on low property taxes, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Alabama
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Alabama
The counties of Alabama, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Madison County
Fewer homes sit empty, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Jefferson County & Shelby County
More adults hold degrees, though it is noisier.
Tuscaloosa County
Disaster risk is lower and tree cover is thicker.
Lauderdale County, Walker County & Colbert County
Homes cost less and crime runs lower.
Montgomery County, Lee County & Houston County
Heat risk is higher.
Etowah County, Marshall County & DeKalb County
Health outcomes score lower.
Talladega County, Calhoun County & Tallapoosa County
Autauga County, Covington County & Butler County
Prices have run up less, though big-city amenities are further off.
Mobile County & Baldwin County
Alabama shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Alabama's strengths and weaknesses
Alabama ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Low property taxes is the standout, in the top 3% of states. Affordable childcare and state infrastructure follow.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: walkability, biking, and crime all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Alabama ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of states
- Cheap childcare$634 a month, better than 95% of states
- State infrastructureBetter than 83% of states
- QuietBetter than 81% of states
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 79% of states
Where Alabama ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 3% of states
- BikingBetter than only 5% of states
- Crime safetyBetter than only 9% of states
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of states
- Health outlookBetter than only 11% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Alabama
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alabama home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,526, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Alabama's effective rate of 0.35%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Alabama
Alabama's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Alabama.
Who works in Alabama, and how
Work in Alabama centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Alabama
Alabama has less parkland per resident than most states and less late-night activity than most states. Alabama has 53 miles of ocean coastline. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Alabama and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Alabama, month by month
Alabama sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 45° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 79° | 67° | 57° |
The best schools in and around Alabama
Schools across Alabama average a C−, better than 13% of states.
Top elementary schools
- Crestline Elementary SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Eicholdmertz School Of Math And ScienceA+ · 80% proficient
- Mountain Brook Elementary SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pizitz Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Liberty Park Middle SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Mountain Brook Junior High SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
Top high schools
- Loveless Academic Magnet Program High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Mountain Brook High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Vestavia Hills High SchoolA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alabama school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alabama measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Alabama against the other 49 states.
Who Alabama suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Alabama
Is Alabama a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alabama ranks 47th of 50 states. It scores highest on low property taxes, affordable childcare, and state infrastructure, and lowest on walkability and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alabama expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,270. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $71,526 median income, cost of living beats 27% of states.
Is Alabama safe?
Alabama is safer than 9% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $423 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Alabama?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 37. That works out to about 88 pleasant days a year, more than 53% of states.
What are the best areas in Alabama?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Madison County, Jefferson County & Shelby County, and Tuscaloosa County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Alabama good for families?
Schools beat 13% of states, crime safety beats 9%, and childcare runs $634 a month.
Is Alabama good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 27% of states, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 65% of states. About 9% of workers already work from home.
Compare Alabama with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alabama. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alabama represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Alabama detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alabama: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alabama: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alabama: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alabama: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alabama detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.