Best PlacesHelena, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Helena, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Helena ranks 2,593rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Helena
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.
Helena's strengths and weaknesses
Where Helena ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$123,343 median, better than 94% of towns
Where Helena ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 23% of towns
- Short commute30.4 minutes each way, better than only 31% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 75 pleasant days a year, better than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Helena
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Helena home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $123,343, 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 Helena's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 Helena
Helena runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Helena.
Who works in Helena, and how
Work in Helena centers on health care & social and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Helena
Helena has more parkland per resident than 87% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Helena and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Helena, month by month
Helena sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 46° | 36° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 78° | 66° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Helena
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 143 miles away.
The best schools in and around Helena
Schools across Helena average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Creek View Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Brocks Gap Intermediate SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Helena Intermediate SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Robert F Bumpus Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Thompson Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Helena MiddleB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Hoover High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Helena High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Thompson High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Helena school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Helena 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 Helena against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Helena suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Helena
Is Helena a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Helena ranks 2,593rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, population health, and fast internet, and lowest on taxes and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Helena expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $344,142. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $123,343 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is Helena safe?
Yes, Helena is safer than 69% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $231 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Helena?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 36. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 36% of towns.
Is Helena good for families?
Schools beat 60% of towns, crime safety beats 69%, and childcare runs $704 a month.
Compare Helena with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Helena. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Helena 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.
Helena detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Helena: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Helena: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Helena: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Helena: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Helena 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.