Best PlacesDargin, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dargin, 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.
Dargin ranks 29,488th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Long commutes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in Dargin
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.
Dargin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dargin ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 87% of towns
- Household income$92,164 median, better than 79% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 78% of towns
Where Dargin ranks low
- Short commute38.1 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 14% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dargin
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dargin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $92,164, 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 Dargin's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dargin
Dargin runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dargin.
Who works in Dargin, and how
Work in Dargin centers on other services and public administration. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 0%
Life in Dargin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dargin.
What the weather is like in Dargin, month by month
Dargin sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Dargin
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 140 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dargin
Schools across Dargin average a C, better than 30% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Meadow View Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Calera Intermediate SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thompson Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Calera MiddleC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Thompson High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Calera HighD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dargin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dargin 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 Dargin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dargin
Is Dargin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dargin ranks 29,488th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low property taxes, and population health, and lowest on long commutes and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dargin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $267,725. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $92,164 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Dargin safe?
Dargin is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $329 per resident a year.
Compare Dargin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dargin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dargin 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.
Dargin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dargin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dargin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dargin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dargin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dargin 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.