Best PlacesClarke County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Clarke 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.
Clarke County ranks 2,955th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Clarke 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 Clarke County
The parts of Clarke 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.
Grove Hill
Local pay stretches further and incomes run higher.
Jackson
Commutes are shorter and fewer homes sit empty.
Thomasville
More households have young kids, though it is noisier.
Scores across Clarke County run from about the 2nd to the 21st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Clarke County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clarke County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of counties
Where Clarke County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Household income$50,082 median, better than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Clarke County
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clarke County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,082, 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 Clarke County's effective rate of 0.29%, 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 Clarke County
Clarke 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 Clarke County.
Who works in Clarke County, and how
Work in Clarke County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Clarke County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Clarke County.
Is Clarke County growing, and who is moving in?
Clarke County has lost about 11% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Atlanta, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Clarke County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Clarke County, month by month
Clarke County sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Clarke County
The nearest airport, Key Field, is about 71 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 186 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clarke County
Schools across Clarke County average a D, better than 6% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Thomasville Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Grove Hill Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Jackson Intermediate SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thomasville Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- Jackson Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Wilson Hall Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Thomasville High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Jackson High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
- Choctaw County High SchoolF · 11% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clarke County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clarke 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 Clarke County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Clarke County suits
Common questions about living in Clarke County
Is Clarke County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clarke County ranks 2,955th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and a stable housing market, and lowest on crime and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clarke County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $135,719. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $50,082 median income, cost of living beats 16% of counties.
Is Clarke County safe?
Clarke County is safer than 4% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $649 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Clarke County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 37. That works out to about 107 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Clarke County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Grove Hill, Jackson, and Thomasville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Clarke County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clarke County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clarke 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.
Clarke County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clarke County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clarke County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clarke County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clarke County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clarke 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.