Best PlacesCrane Hill, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Crane Hill, 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.
Crane Hill ranks 41,231st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Crane Hill
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.
Crane Hill's strengths and weaknesses
Where Crane Hill ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Cheap childcare$640 a month, better than 74% of towns
- QuietBetter than 72% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 70% of towns
Where Crane Hill ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Short commute37.1 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Crane Hill
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Crane Hill home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $57,966; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Crane Hill's effective rate of 0.22%, 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 Crane Hill
Crane Hill 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 Crane Hill.
Who works in Crane Hill, and how
Work in Crane Hill centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Crane Hill
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Crane Hill.
What the weather is like in Crane Hill, month by month
Crane Hill sees roughly 77 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 Crane Hill
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 146 miles away.
The best schools in and around Crane Hill
Schools across Crane Hill average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cold Springs Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- West Point Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Harmony SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Good Hope Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Curry Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Cold Springs High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Good Hope High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- West Point High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Crane Hill school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Crane Hill 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 Crane Hill against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Crane Hill
Is Crane Hill a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Crane Hill ranks 41,231st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, state infrastructure, and affordable childcare, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Crane Hill expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $239,761. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $57,966 median income, cost of living beats 9% of towns.
Is Crane Hill safe?
Yes, Crane Hill is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $264 per resident a year.
Compare Crane Hill with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Crane Hill. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Crane Hill 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.
Crane Hill detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Crane Hill: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Crane Hill: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Crane Hill: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Crane Hill: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Crane Hill 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.