Best PlacesBlount County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Blount County, 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.
Blount County ranks 1,942nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Blount 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 Blount County
The parts of Blount 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.
Cleveland
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and heat risk is lower.
Hayden
Fewer homes sit empty and more households have young kids.
Warrior & Trafford
Tree cover is thicker and more residents vote.
Blountsville
Prices have run up less and it is quieter.
Oneonta
Commutes are shorter, though crime runs higher.
Remlap
Fewer adults hold degrees and health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Blount County run from about the 9th to the 61st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Blount County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Blount County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 94% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 79% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 74% of counties
Where Blount County ranks low
- Short commute35.9 minutes each way, better than only 3% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 8% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Blount County
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blount County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,680, 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 Blount County's effective rate of 0.27%, 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 Blount County
Blount County'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 Blount County.
Who works in Blount County, and how
Work in Blount County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Blount County
Blount County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Blount County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Blount County growing, and who is moving in?
Blount County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Birmingham, AL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Blount County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Blount County, month by month
Blount County sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Blount County
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 126 miles away.
The best schools in and around Blount County
Schools across Blount County average a C, better than 33% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Oneonta Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Locust Fork ElementaryB− · 44% proficient
- Hayden Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oneonta Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Hayden Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Oneonta High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Cleveland High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Jb Pennington High SchoolC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blount County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blount 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 Blount County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Blount County suits
Families
Schools land around the 33rd percentile and crime safety beats 70%.
Common questions about living in Blount County
Is Blount County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blount County ranks 1,942nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, a strong job market, and state infrastructure, and lowest on long commutes and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Blount County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $179,481. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $66,680 median income, cost of living beats 47% of counties.
Is Blount County safe?
Yes, Blount County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $270 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Blount County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 33. That works out to about 86 pleasant days a year, more than 47% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Blount County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cleveland, Hayden, and Warrior & Trafford. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Blount County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blount County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blount 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.
Blount County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blount County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blount County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blount County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blount County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blount 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.