Best PlacesLeeds, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Leeds, 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.
Leeds ranks 22,918th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in Leeds
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.
Leeds' strengths and weaknesses
Where Leeds ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 84% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 79% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 78% of towns
Where Leeds ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 9% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Leeds
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Leeds home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,965, 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 Leeds' effective rate of 0.43%, 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 Leeds
Leeds'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 Leeds.
Who works in Leeds, and how
Work in Leeds centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Leeds
Leeds has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Leeds and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Leeds, month by month
Leeds sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 45° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 79° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Leeds
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 123 miles away.
The best schools in and around Leeds
Schools across Leeds average a C, better than 37% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mt Laurel Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Liberty Park ElementaryA · 72% proficient
- Greystone Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
Top middle schools
- Liberty Park Middle SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Berry Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Chelsea Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Mountain Brook High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Vestavia Hills High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Oak Mountain High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Leeds school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Leeds 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 Leeds against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Leeds
Is Leeds a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Leeds ranks 22,918th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low property taxes, and a strong job market, 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 Leeds expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $236,087. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $77,965 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is Leeds safe?
Leeds is safer than 47% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $304 per resident a year.
Compare Leeds with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Leeds. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Leeds 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.
Leeds detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Leeds: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Leeds: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Leeds: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Leeds: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Leeds 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.