Best PlacesLee County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lee 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.
Lee County ranks 936th 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 a strong job market and an educated workforce. The weaker spots are taxes, air quality, and civic engagement.
The best neighborhoods in Lee 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 Lee County
The parts of Lee 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.
Waverly
More households have young kids, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Phenix City, Smiths & Smiths Station
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Auburn
Tree cover is thinner and prices have run up more.
Valley
It is quieter, though schools score lower.
Opelika
Crime runs higher and health outcomes score lower.
Lee County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Lee County's strengths and weaknesses
Lee County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. A strong job market, an educated workforce, and low property taxes carry most of that.
The one real hole is taxes, near the bottom of the country. Air quality and civic engagement also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Lee County to another than it does between Lee County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Lee County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
Where Lee County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 21% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 28% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 29% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lee County
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,566, 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 Lee County's effective rate of 0.39%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lee County
Lee County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lee County.
Who works in Lee County, and how
Work in Lee County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Lee County
Lee County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lee County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lee County growing, and who is moving in?
Lee County has grown about 22% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Columbus, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lee County, month by month
Lee County sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 47° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 66° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Lee County
The nearest airport, Columbus, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lee County
Schools across Lee County average a B−, better than 65% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Creekside Elementary SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Wrights Mill Road Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Margaret Yarbrough Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Drake Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- East Samford SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Sanford Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Auburn High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Opelika High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Central High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lee 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 Lee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lee County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Lee County
Is Lee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lee County ranks 936th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, an educated workforce, and low property taxes, 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 Lee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $275,708. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $71,566 median income, cost of living beats 54% of counties.
Is Lee County safe?
Yes, Lee County is safer than 65% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $306 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lee County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 37. That works out to about 87 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lee County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Waverly, Phenix City, Smiths & Smiths Station, and Auburn. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Lee County good for families?
Schools beat 65% of counties, crime safety beats 65%, and childcare runs $635 a month.
Is Lee County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 54% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 74% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Lee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lee 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.
Lee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lee 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.