Best PlacesCold Springs, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cold Springs, 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.
Cold Springs ranks 43,764th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Cold Springs
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.
Cold Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Cold Springs ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 81% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 79% of towns
- Cheap childcare$634 a month, better than 75% of towns
Where Cold Springs ranks low
- Short commute46.6 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$48,190 median, better than only 10% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cold Springs
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cold Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,190, 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 Cold Springs' effective rate of 0.14%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cold Springs
Cold Springs runs older than the country, 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 Cold Springs.
Who works in Cold Springs, and how
Work in Cold Springs centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Cold Springs
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cold Springs.
What the weather is like in Cold Springs, month by month
Cold Springs sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 95° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 80° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Cold Springs
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 149 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cold Springs
Schools across Cold Springs average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cold Springs Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Harmony SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Cold Springs High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cold Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cold Springs 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 Cold Springs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cold Springs
Is Cold Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cold Springs ranks 43,764th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, state infrastructure, and low crime, and lowest on long commutes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cold Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $187,655. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $48,190 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Cold Springs safe?
Yes, Cold Springs is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $197 per resident a year.
Compare Cold Springs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cold Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cold Springs 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.
Cold Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cold Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cold Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cold Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cold Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cold Springs 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.