Best PlacesFort Payne, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fort Payne, 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.
Fort Payne ranks 34,404th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Fort Payne
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.
Fort Payne's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fort Payne ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap childcare$528 a month, better than 90% of towns
- Short commute19.6 minutes each way, better than 89% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of towns
Where Fort Payne ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 12% of towns
- Household income$51,475 median, better than only 14% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fort Payne
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fort Payne home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,475, 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 Fort Payne's effective rate of 0.24%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fort Payne
Fort Payne's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fort Payne.
Who works in Fort Payne, and how
Work in Fort Payne centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Fort Payne
Fort Payne has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of towns and more parkland per resident than 82% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Fort Payne and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Fort Payne, month by month
Fort Payne sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 40° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 62° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Fort Payne
The nearest airport, Lovell Field, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fort Payne
Schools across Fort Payne average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Centre Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Ruhuma Junior High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Henagar Junior High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Centre Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Fort Payne Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Fort Payne High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
- Cherokee County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Crossville High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fort Payne school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fort Payne 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 Fort Payne against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fort Payne
Is Fort Payne a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fort Payne ranks 34,404th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, affordable childcare, and short commutes, and lowest on taxes and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fort Payne expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $170,503. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $51,475 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Fort Payne safe?
Fort Payne is safer than 38% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $330 per resident a year.
Compare Fort Payne with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fort Payne. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fort Payne 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.
Fort Payne detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fort Payne: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fort Payne: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fort Payne: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fort Payne: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fort Payne 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.