Best PlacesCarlen, Mobile, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Carlen, Mobile, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Carlen, Mobile ranks 3,064th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Carlen, Mobile
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.
Carlen, Mobile's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carlen, Mobile ranks high
- Cheap childcare$619 a month, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Short commute16.9 minutes each way, better than 93% of neighborhoods
Where Carlen, Mobile ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD, better than only 10% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Carlen, Mobile
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carlen, Mobile home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $111,125, 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 Carlen, Mobile's effective rate of 0.50%, 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 Carlen, Mobile
Carlen, Mobile's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Carlen, Mobile.
Who works in Carlen, Mobile, and how
Work in Carlen, Mobile centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Carlen, Mobile
Carlen, Mobile has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 7 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Carlen, Mobile and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Carlen, Mobile, month by month
Carlen, Mobile sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 78° | 69° | 60° |
| July | 92° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 83° | 72° | 63° |
Flying in and out of Carlen, Mobile
The nearest airport, Mobile International, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Carlen, Mobile
Schools across Carlen, Mobile average a D, better than 10% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Spencerwestlawn Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Morningside Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
- Leinkauf Elementary SchoolD · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Phillips Preparatory Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Cl Scarborough Model Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Booker T Washington Middle SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- Murphy High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carlen, Mobile school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carlen, Mobile 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 Carlen, Mobile against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Carlen, Mobile
Is Carlen, Mobile a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carlen, Mobile ranks 3,064th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on affordable childcare, health care access, and tree cover, and lowest on disaster risk and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carlen, Mobile expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $262,968. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $111,125 median income, cost of living beats 92% of neighborhoods.
Is Carlen, Mobile safe?
Carlen, Mobile is safer than 12% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $735 per resident a year.
Compare Carlen, Mobile with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carlen, Mobile. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carlen, Mobile 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.
Carlen, Mobile detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carlen, Mobile: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carlen, Mobile: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carlen, Mobile: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carlen, Mobile: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carlen, Mobile 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.