Best PlacesHowells Crossroads, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Howells Crossroads, 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.
Howells Crossroads ranks 42,357th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Howells Crossroads
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.
Howells Crossroads' strengths and weaknesses
Where Howells Crossroads ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$528 a month, better than 90% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- QuietBetter than 79% of towns
Where Howells Crossroads ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Howells Crossroads
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Howells Crossroads home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,937, 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 Howells Crossroads' 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Howells Crossroads
Howells Crossroads runs older 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 Howells Crossroads.
Who works in Howells Crossroads, and how
Work in Howells Crossroads centers on manufacturing and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 98%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Howells Crossroads
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Howells Crossroads.
What the weather is like in Howells Crossroads, month by month
Howells Crossroads sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 52, 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 | 52° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Howells Crossroads
The nearest airport, Lovell Field, is about 62 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Howells Crossroads
Schools across Howells Crossroads average a C, better than 37% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Centre Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Centre Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Cherokee County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Howells Crossroads school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Howells Crossroads 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 Howells Crossroads against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Howells Crossroads
Is Howells Crossroads a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Howells Crossroads ranks 42,357th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, a strong job market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on education levels and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Howells Crossroads expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $125,952. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $59,937 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is Howells Crossroads safe?
Howells Crossroads is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $551 per resident a year.
Compare Howells Crossroads with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Howells Crossroads. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Howells Crossroads 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.
Howells Crossroads detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Howells Crossroads: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Howells Crossroads: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Howells Crossroads: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Howells Crossroads: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Howells Crossroads 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.