Best PlacesEtowah County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Etowah 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.
Etowah County ranks 2,381st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on taxes and health outcomes. It does better on low property taxes, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Etowah 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 Etowah County
The parts of Etowah 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.
Southside & Rainbow City
Fewer homes sit empty, more households have young kids, and schools score higher.
Glencoe
More adults hold degrees and local pay stretches further.
Boaz & Altoona
Crime runs lower, though commutes are longer.
Hokes Bluff
Tree cover is thinner and health care is harder to reach.
Attalla
Prices have run up less, though it is noisier.
Gadsden
Streets are more walkable, though fewer residents vote.
Scores across Etowah County run from about the 2nd to the 67th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Etowah County's strengths and weaknesses
Etowah County ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Low property taxes, state infrastructure, and affordable childcare carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: taxes, health outcomes, and low incomes all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Etowah County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 96% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Cheap childcare$531 a month, better than 86% of counties
- TransitBetter than 80% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 78% of counties
Where Etowah County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 18% of counties
- Household income$57,037 median, better than only 20% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 25% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Etowah County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Etowah County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,037, 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 Etowah County's effective rate of 0.32%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Etowah County
Etowah County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Etowah County.
Who works in Etowah County, and how
Work in Etowah County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Etowah County
Etowah County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Etowah County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Etowah County growing, and who is moving in?
Etowah County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Birmingham, AL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Etowah County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Etowah County, month by month
Etowah County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 42° | 33° |
| April | 75° | 61° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Etowah County
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Etowah County
Schools across Etowah County average a C−, better than 25% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Eura Brown Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Southside Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- John S Jones Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rainbow Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Glencoe Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Hokes Bluff Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Hokes Bluff High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Southside High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Glencoe High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Etowah County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Etowah 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 Etowah County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Etowah County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 5% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Etowah County
Is Etowah County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Etowah County ranks 2,381st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, state infrastructure, and affordable childcare, and lowest on taxes and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Etowah County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $172,955. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $57,037 median income, cost of living beats 26% of counties.
Is Etowah County safe?
Etowah County is safer than 50% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $344 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Etowah County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 33. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 33% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Etowah County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Southside & Rainbow City, Glencoe, and Boaz & Altoona. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Etowah County good for families?
Schools beat 25% of counties, crime safety beats 50%, and childcare runs $531 a month.
Is Etowah County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 26% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 78% of counties. About 5% of workers already work from home.
Compare Etowah County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Etowah County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Etowah 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.
Etowah County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Etowah County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Etowah County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Etowah County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Etowah County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Etowah 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.