Best PlacesChambers County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Chambers County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Chambers County ranks 2,779th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Chambers 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 Chambers County
The parts of Chambers 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.
Lanett
Fewer homes sit empty, more households have young kids, and crime runs lower.
Valley
More adults hold degrees.
Lafayette
Commutes are longer and heat risk is higher.
Scores across Chambers County run from about the 3rd to the 37th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Chambers County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chambers County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of counties
- Cheap childcare$635 a month, better than 69% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 64% of counties
Where Chambers County ranks low
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of counties
- Household income$50,392 median, better than only 9% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Chambers County
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chambers County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,392, 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 Chambers County's effective rate of 0.34%, 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 Chambers County
Chambers County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Chambers County.
Who works in Chambers County, and how
Work in Chambers 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 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Chambers County
Chambers County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Chambers County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Chambers County growing, and who is moving in?
Chambers County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Auburn, AL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Chambers County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Chambers County, month by month
Chambers County sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 78° | 64° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Chambers County
The nearest airport, Columbus, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chambers County
Schools across Chambers County average a D, better than 5% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Knight Enloe Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Huguley Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Fairfax Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Handley Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- W F Burns Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Lanett Junior High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Handley High SchoolD · 18% proficient
- Valley High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Lafayette High SchoolF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chambers County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chambers 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 Chambers County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Chambers County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Chambers County
Is Chambers County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chambers County ranks 2,779th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, state infrastructure, and tree cover, and lowest on the schools and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chambers County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $151,387. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $50,392 median income, cost of living beats 13% of counties.
Is Chambers County safe?
Chambers County is safer than 12% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $491 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Chambers County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 36. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 40% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Chambers County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lanett, Valley, and Lafayette. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Chambers County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chambers County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chambers 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.
Chambers County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chambers County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chambers County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chambers County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chambers County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chambers 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.