Best PlacesChilton County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Chilton 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.
Chilton County ranks 2,122nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Chilton 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 Chilton County
The parts of Chilton 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.
Clanton
Commutes are shorter and fewer homes sit empty.
Verbena
Fewer households have young kids and prices have run up more.
Jemison
Tree cover is thicker, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Scores across Chilton County run from about the 7th to the 64th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Chilton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chilton County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 89% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of counties
Where Chilton County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 7% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Short commute31.0 minutes each way, better than only 12% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Chilton County
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chilton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,036, 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 Chilton County's effective rate of 0.32%, 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 Chilton County
Chilton 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 Chilton County.
Who works in Chilton County, and how
Work in Chilton County centers on construction and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Chilton County
Chilton 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 Chilton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Chilton County growing, and who is moving in?
Chilton County has grown about 8% 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 Chilton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Chilton County, month by month
Chilton County sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 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 | 76° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 78° | 65° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Chilton County
The nearest airport, Montgomery Regional (Dannelly Field), is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 141 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chilton County
Schools across Chilton County average a D, better than 8% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Clanton Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Jemison Elementary SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clanton Intermediate SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Jemison Intermediate SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Clanton Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Chilton County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Jemison High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chilton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chilton 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 Chilton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Chilton County suits
Families
Schools land around the 8th percentile and crime safety beats 57%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Chilton County
Is Chilton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chilton County ranks 2,122nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, a strong job market, and state infrastructure, and lowest on walkability and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chilton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,742. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $65,036 median income, cost of living beats 39% of counties.
Is Chilton County safe?
Yes, Chilton County is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $302 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Chilton County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 36. That works out to about 101 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Chilton County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Clanton, Verbena, and Jemison. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Chilton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chilton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chilton 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.
Chilton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chilton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chilton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chilton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chilton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chilton 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.