Best PlacesBlackwood, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Blackwood, 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.
Blackwood ranks 30,150th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Blackwood
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.
Blackwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Blackwood ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Cheap childcare$559 a month, better than 86% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 81% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 76% of towns
Where Blackwood ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Blackwood
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blackwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,025, 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 Blackwood's effective rate of 0.23%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Blackwood
Blackwood runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Blackwood.
Who works in Blackwood, and how
Work in Blackwood centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Blackwood
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Blackwood.
What the weather is like in Blackwood, month by month
Blackwood sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| April | 81° | 67° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 84° | 70° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Blackwood
The nearest airport, Dothan Regional, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 167 miles away.
The best schools in and around Blackwood
Schools across Blackwood average a C, better than 33% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Headland Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Midland City Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Morris Slingluff Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Headland Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- South Dale Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Dothan High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Headland High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Dale County High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blackwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blackwood 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 Blackwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Blackwood
Is Blackwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blackwood ranks 30,150th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, state infrastructure, and affordable childcare, and lowest on air quality and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Blackwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $165,410. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $77,025 median income, cost of living beats 63% of towns.
Is Blackwood safe?
Yes, Blackwood is safer than 76% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $219 per resident a year.
Compare Blackwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blackwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blackwood 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.
Blackwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blackwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blackwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blackwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blackwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blackwood 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.