Best PlacesDora, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dora, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dora ranks 31,592nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dora
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.
Dora's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dora ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 74% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 66% of towns
Where Dora ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Short commute34.4 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 18% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dora
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dora home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,110, 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 Dora's effective rate of 0.31%, 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 Dora
Dora runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dora.
Who works in Dora, and how
Work in Dora centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Dora
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dora.
What the weather is like in Dora, month by month
Dora sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 56, 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 | 56° | 45° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 79° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Dora
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 150 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dora
Schools across Dora average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cordova Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Bagley Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- West Jefferson Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Corner Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Bragg Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Bankhead Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Corner High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Dora High SchoolF · 11% proficient
- Minor High SchoolF · 7% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dora school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dora 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 Dora against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dora
Is Dora a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dora ranks 31,592nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low property taxes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dora expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $161,569. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $73,110 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Dora safe?
Dora is safer than 37% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $327 per resident a year.
Compare Dora with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dora. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dora 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.
Dora detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dora: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dora: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dora: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dora: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dora 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.