Best PlacesEscambia County, AL Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood in Escambia County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.

See the map of best neighborhoods

Escambia County ranks 3,025th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.

#3,025
of 3,144 counties
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 3,144 counties
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in Escambia County

Map of the best neighborhoods in the Escambia County area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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 Escambia County

The parts of Escambia 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.

#1

Brewton

Tree cover is thicker, more adults hold degrees, and health care is easier to reach.

WorseBetter
22nd nationally
#2

Flomaton

WorseBetter
14th nationally
#3

East Brewton

More households have young kids and it is quieter.

WorseBetter
8th nationally
#4

Atmore

Crime runs higher and prices have run up more.

WorseBetter
5th nationally

Scores across Escambia County run from about the 1st to the 40th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.


Escambia County's strengths and weaknesses

Top 3%Low property taxes
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare Escambia County with other counties.

Where Escambia County ranks high

  • Low property taxBetter than 98% of counties
  • State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
  • Nice weatherabout 121 pleasant days a year, better than 75% of counties
  • Cheap childcare$619 a month, better than 71% of counties
  • Housing crash safetyBetter than 70% of counties

Where Escambia County ranks low

  • Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
  • Health outlookBetter than only 5% of counties
  • Internet speedBetter than only 5% of counties
  • Household income$49,234 median, better than only 7% of counties
  • Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of counties

What it costs to buy a home in Escambia County

A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Escambia County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,234, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$35,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$811
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $143,477 home
Median rent
$787
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$732
Property tax$31
Homeowners insurance$48

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 Escambia County's effective rate of 0.26%, 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.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in Escambia County

Escambia County's age mix sits close to the national median.

Median age
41
about the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
20%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.7
near the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1822%
18 to 3419%
35 to 4919%
50 to 6420%
65 and older20%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Escambia County.


Who works in Escambia County, and how

Work in Escambia County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.

Work from home
4%
below the national average
Unemployment
4.3%
about the national average
Job growth
+1.7%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Manufacturing18%
Retail trade13%
Health care & social11%
Admin & support services10%
Hospitality & food7%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 95%
  • Work from home 4%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 1%

Life in Escambia County

Escambia County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of counties. The coast is about 62 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Escambia County and thins out in others, which the map shows.

Places to eat and drink
231
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 62.8 per 10,000 residents, more than 73% of counties
Coffee shops
22
about 6.0 per 10,000 residents, more than 59% of counties
Parkland
137 acres
about 3.7 acres per 1,000 residents, more than 45% of counties
To the coast
62 min
drive to the nearest ocean beaches

Is Escambia County growing, and who is moving in?

Escambia County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sacramento, CA.

Population growth
-3%
over the decade, vs about 6% nationally
Population
36,630
down from 37,735
Population by year. Source: U.S. Census Population Estimates Program.

Where new residents come from

Sacramento, CA128 / yr
Pensacola, FL116 / yr
Birmingham, AL79 / yr
Philadelphia, PA72 / yr
Mobile, AL69 / yr

Where people leaving Escambia County go

Daphne, AL347 / yr
Montgomery, AL253 / yr
Birmingham, AL235 / yr
Pensacola, FL200 / yr
Mobile, AL101 / yr

Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.


What the weather is like in Escambia County, month by month

Escambia County sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and September through November.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January61°48°39°
April78°65°54°
July90°79°72°
October80°67°57°

Flying in and out of Escambia County

The nearest airport, Pensacola International, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 193 miles away.

Nearest airport
PNS
Pensacola International, about 43 miles
Airport size
Small hub
88th-busiest in the US, 51 nonstop destinations
Average drive
61 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around Escambia County

Schools across Escambia County average a D+, better than 14% of counties.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Escambia County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


Escambia 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 Escambia County against the other 3,143 counties.


Who Escambia County suits

Families

Schools land around the 14th percentile.

See the families priority ↑

Remote workers

4% already work from home.

See the remote-work priority ↑

Retirees

The weather beats 75% of counties.

See the retirees priority ↑


Common questions about living in Escambia County

Is Escambia County a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Escambia County ranks 3,025th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, state infrastructure, and the weather, and lowest on disaster risk and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is Escambia County expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $143,477. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $49,234 median income, cost of living beats 9% of counties.

Is Escambia County safe?

Escambia County is safer than 21% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $438 per resident a year.

What is the weather like in Escambia County?

July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 39. That works out to about 121 pleasant days a year, more than 75% of counties.

What are the best neighborhoods in Escambia County?

Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Brewton, Flomaton, and East Brewton. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.


Compare Escambia County with other counties


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Escambia County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Escambia 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.

Escambia County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for Escambia County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in Escambia County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of Escambia County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in Escambia County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

Escambia County detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
  3. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  4. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  5. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  6. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  7. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  8. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  9. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  10. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  11. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  12. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  13. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.