Best PlacesBaldwin County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Baldwin County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Baldwin County ranks 1,298th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Its strengths are low property taxes and a strong job market. The cost shows up in disaster risk, taxes, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Baldwin County
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 Baldwin County
The parts of Baldwin County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Fairhope
More adults hold degrees, heat risk is lower, and schools score higher.
Daphne & Spanish Fort
More households have young kids and tree cover is thicker.
Loxley, Robertsdale & Silverhill
Fewer homes sit empty, though local pay stretches less far.
Gulf Shores
Prices have run up more and incomes run lower.
Foley, Orange Beach & Elberta
Scores close to Gulf Shores, except that it is noisier here.
Bay Minette
Homes cost less, though health care is harder to reach.
Seminole
Advertised internet is slower and fewer residents vote.
Scores across Baldwin County run from about the 1st to the 88th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Baldwin County's strengths and weaknesses
Baldwin County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low property taxes, a strong job market, and fast internet carry most of that.
The one real hole is disaster risk, near the bottom of the country. Taxes and an overheated housing market also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Baldwin County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 96% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of counties
Where Baldwin County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 23% of counties
- Short commute27.0 minutes each way, better than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Baldwin County
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Baldwin County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,824, 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 Baldwin County's effective rate of 0.30%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Baldwin County
Baldwin County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Baldwin County.
Who works in Baldwin County, and how
Work in Baldwin County 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 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Baldwin County
Baldwin County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 82% of counties. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Baldwin County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Baldwin County growing, and who is moving in?
Baldwin County has grown about 31% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Mobile, AL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Baldwin County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Baldwin County, month by month
Baldwin County sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 51° | 42° |
| April | 77° | 66° | 56° |
| July | 89° | 80° | 74° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Baldwin County
The nearest airport, Mobile International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 154 miles away.
The best schools in and around Baldwin County
Schools across Baldwin County average a B−, better than 63% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Spanish Fort Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Hellen Caro Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Fairhope West ElementaryA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fairhope Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Spanish Fort Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- W J Carroll Intermediate SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Spanish Fort High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Fairhope High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Gulf Shores High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Baldwin County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Baldwin County 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 Baldwin County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Baldwin County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 81% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 81% of counties and health care access beats 84%.
Common questions about living in Baldwin County
Is Baldwin County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Baldwin County ranks 1,298th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, a strong job market, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Baldwin County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $332,953. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $81,824 median income, cost of living beats 81% of counties.
Is Baldwin County safe?
Yes, Baldwin County is safer than 71% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Baldwin County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 62 with lows near 42. That works out to about 128 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Baldwin County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fairhope, Daphne & Spanish Fort, and Loxley, Robertsdale & Silverhill. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Baldwin County good for families?
Schools beat 63% of counties, crime safety beats 71%, and childcare runs $619 a month.
Is Baldwin County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 81% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 88% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Baldwin County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Baldwin County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Baldwin County 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.
Baldwin County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Baldwin County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Baldwin County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Baldwin County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Baldwin County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Baldwin County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.