Best PlacesGum Springs, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gum Springs, 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.
Gum Springs ranks 35,219th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Gum Springs
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.
Gum Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Gum Springs ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 89% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Gum Springs ranks low
- Short commute37.3 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 13% of towns
- Household income$51,859 median, better than only 15% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gum Springs
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gum Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,859, 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 Gum Springs' effective rate of 0.30%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gum Springs
Gum Springs runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gum Springs.
Who works in Gum Springs, and how
Work in Gum Springs centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Gum Springs
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Gum Springs.
What the weather is like in Gum Springs, month by month
Gum Springs sees roughly 96 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Gum Springs
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 130 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gum Springs
Schools across Gum Springs average a C, better than 33% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Blountsville Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Welti Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hanceville Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Jb Pennington High SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Hanceville High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gum Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gum Springs 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 Gum Springs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gum Springs
Is Gum Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gum Springs ranks 35,219th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, heat safety, and a strong job market, and lowest on long commutes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gum Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $130,090. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $51,859 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Gum Springs safe?
Yes, Gum Springs is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $261 per resident a year.
Compare Gum Springs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gum Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gum Springs 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.
Gum Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gum Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gum Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gum Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gum Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gum Springs 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.