Best PlacesAlabaster, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Alabaster, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Alabaster ranks 944th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Alabaster
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.
Alabaster's strengths and weaknesses
Where Alabaster ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 96% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of cities
- Cheap childcare$704 a month, better than 89% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 85% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 80% of cities
Where Alabaster ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 2% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 11% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 16% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Alabaster
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alabaster home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,533, 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 Alabaster's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Alabaster
Alabaster runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Alabaster.
Who works in Alabaster, and how
Work in Alabaster centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Alabaster
Alabaster has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of cities and more parkland per resident than 79% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Alabaster and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Alabaster, month by month
Alabaster sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 57, 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 | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Alabaster
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 141 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alabaster
Schools across Alabaster average a B, better than 62% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Meadow View Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Creek View Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Forest Oaks Elementary SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chelsea Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Thompson Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Helena MiddleB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Chelsea High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Helena High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Thompson High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alabaster school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alabaster 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 Alabaster against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Alabaster suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Alabaster
Is Alabaster a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alabaster ranks 944th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low property taxes, a stable housing market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alabaster expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $250,215. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $91,533 median income, cost of living beats 67% of cities.
Is Alabaster safe?
Yes, Alabaster is safer than 66% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $265 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Alabaster?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 37. That works out to about 91 pleasant days a year, more than 54% of cities.
Is Alabaster good for families?
Schools beat 62% of cities, crime safety beats 66%, and childcare runs $704 a month.
Compare Alabaster with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alabaster. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alabaster 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.
Alabaster detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alabaster: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alabaster: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alabaster: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alabaster: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alabaster 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.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- 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.