Best PlacesDale County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dale 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.
Dale County ranks 2,377th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dale 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 Dale County
The parts of Dale 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.
Fort Rucker & Enterprise
Health outcomes score higher, more households have young kids, and heat risk is lower.
Daleville
Tree cover is thinner and more homes sit empty.
Ozark
More residents vote, though crime runs higher.
Midland City
Local pay stretches less far and incomes run lower.
Scores across Dale County run from about the 2nd to the 66th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Dale County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dale County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Cheap childcare$561 a month, better than 82% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 80% of counties
Where Dale County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 17% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dale County
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dale County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,411, 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 Dale County's effective rate of 0.28%, 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 Dale County
Dale 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 Dale County.
Who works in Dale County, and how
Work in Dale County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, 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 Dale County
Dale County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Dale County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dale County growing, and who is moving in?
Dale County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dothan, AL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dale County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dale County, month by month
Dale County sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 55° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Dale County
The nearest airport, Dothan Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 171 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dale County
Schools across Dale County average a C−, better than 19% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Highlands Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Newton Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Headland Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dauphin Junior High SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Headland Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Coppinville SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- George W Long High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Wicksburg High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Enterprise High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dale County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dale 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 Dale County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dale County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Dale County
Is Dale County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dale County ranks 2,377th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, fast internet, and state infrastructure, and lowest on air quality and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dale County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $144,014. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $57,411 median income, cost of living beats 21% of counties.
Is Dale County safe?
Dale County is safer than 54% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $321 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dale County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 62 with lows near 40. That works out to about 87 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Dale County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fort Rucker & Enterprise, Daleville, and Ozark. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Dale County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dale County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dale 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.
Dale County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dale County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dale County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dale County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dale County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dale 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.