Best PlacesFive Points South, Birmingham, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Five Points South, Birmingham, 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.
Five Points South, Birmingham ranks 3,849th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Five Points South, Birmingham
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.
Five Points South, Birmingham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Five Points South, Birmingham ranks high
- Short commute15.0 minutes each way, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$702 a month, better than 95% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
Where Five Points South, Birmingham ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Five Points South, Birmingham
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Five Points South, Birmingham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $51,931, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Five Points South, Birmingham's effective rate of 0.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Five Points South, Birmingham
Five Points South, Birmingham runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Five Points South, Birmingham.
Who works in Five Points South, Birmingham, and how
Work in Five Points South, Birmingham centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 19%
Life in Five Points South, Birmingham
Five Points South, Birmingham has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Five Points South, Birmingham and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Five Points South, Birmingham, month by month
Five Points South, Birmingham sees roughly 87 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 Five Points South, Birmingham
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 137 miles away.
The best schools in and around Five Points South, Birmingham
Schools across Five Points South, Birmingham average a D+, better than 24% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Riverchase Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Shades Cahaba Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Hall Kent Elementary SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Top middle schools
- Homewood Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Berry Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Homewood High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Spain Park High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Ramsay High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Five Points South, Birmingham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Five Points South, Birmingham 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 Five Points South, Birmingham against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Five Points South, Birmingham
Is Five Points South, Birmingham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Five Points South, Birmingham ranks 3,849th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on short commutes, affordable childcare, and an educated workforce, and lowest on empty homes and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Five Points South, Birmingham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $322,335. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $51,931 median income, cost of living beats 22% of neighborhoods.
Is Five Points South, Birmingham safe?
Five Points South, Birmingham is safer than 20% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $688 per resident a year.
Compare Five Points South, Birmingham with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Five Points South, Birmingham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Five Points South, Birmingham 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.
Five Points South, Birmingham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Five Points South, Birmingham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Five Points South, Birmingham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Five Points South, Birmingham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Five Points South, Birmingham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Five Points South, Birmingham 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.