Best PlacesHouston County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Houston County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Houston County ranks 2,076th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on low property taxes and fast internet. The weaker spots are air quality, taxes, and summer heat.
The best neighborhoods in Houston 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 Houston County
The parts of Houston 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.
Dothan
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Rehobeth & Taylor
More households have young kids and it is quieter.
Ashford & Cottonwood
Homes cost less, though more homes sit empty.
Scores across Houston County run from about the 2nd to the 82nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Houston County's strengths and weaknesses
Houston County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low property taxes is the standout, in the top 3% of counties. Fast internet and state infrastructure follow.
The one real hole is air quality, near the bottom of the country. Taxes and summer heat also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Houston County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Cheap childcare$561 a month, better than 82% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 82% of counties
Where Houston County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Houston County
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Houston County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,321, 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 Houston County's effective rate of 0.29%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Houston County
Houston County'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 Houston County.
Who works in Houston County, and how
Work in Houston County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Houston County
Houston County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 66% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Houston County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Houston County growing, and who is moving in?
Houston County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Dale County, AL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Houston County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Houston County, month by month
Houston County sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| April | 81° | 67° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 84° | 70° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Houston County
The nearest airport, Dothan Regional, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 177 miles away.
The best schools in and around Houston County
Schools across Houston County average a C−, better than 20% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Carver School Of Mathematics Science And TechnologyA+ · 72% proficient
- Highlands Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Rehobeth Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rehobeth Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Dothan Preparatory AcademyD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Wicksburg High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Cottonwood High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Rehobeth High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Houston County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Houston 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 Houston County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Houston County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 5% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Houston County
Is Houston County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Houston County ranks 2,076th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, fast internet, and state infrastructure, and lowest on air quality and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Houston County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $187,824. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $63,321 median income, cost of living beats 50% of counties.
Is Houston County safe?
Houston County is safer than 40% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $367 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Houston County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 63 with lows near 40. That works out to about 93 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Houston County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Dothan, Rehobeth & Taylor, and Ashford & Cottonwood. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Houston County good for families?
Schools beat 20% of counties, crime safety beats 40%, and childcare runs $561 a month.
Is Houston County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 50% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 93% of counties. About 5% of workers already work from home.
Compare Houston County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Houston County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Houston 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.
Houston County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Houston County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Houston County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Houston County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Houston County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Houston 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.