Best PlacesMadison County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Madison County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Madison County ranks 253rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $96,353, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are taxes, the weather, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Madison 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 Madison County
The parts of Madison 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.
Gurley & Brownsboro
Tree cover is thicker, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Owens Cross Roads & New Hope
More adults hold degrees and crime runs lower.
Madison
Biking is better and schools score higher.
Harvest & Toney
It is quieter and fewer homes sit empty.
New Market & Moores Mill
More residents vote, though streets are more car-dependent.
Huntsville
Health care is harder to reach and prices have run up more.
Hazel Green & Meridianville
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Madison County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Madison County's strengths and weaknesses
Madison County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. What local pay buys, fast internet, and a strong job market carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Taxes, the weather, and noise hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Madison County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 96% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of counties
Where Madison County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 20% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 33% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 43% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 44% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Madison County
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Madison County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $96,353, 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 Madison 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 Madison County
Madison 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 Madison County.
Who works in Madison County, and how
Work in Madison County centers on professional & technical and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Madison County
Madison County has more late-night spots per resident than 84% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Madison County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Madison County growing, and who is moving in?
Madison County has grown about 21% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Huntsville, AL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Madison County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Madison County, month by month
Madison County sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 76° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Madison County
The nearest airport, Huntsville International-Carl T Jones Field, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 96 miles away.
The best schools in and around Madison County
Schools across Madison County average a C+, better than 50% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Heritage Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Mill Creek Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Hampton Cove ElementaryA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hampton Cove Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Liberty Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Discovery Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- New Century Technology High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- James Clemens High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Bob Jones High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Madison County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Madison 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 Madison County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Madison County suits
Families
Schools land around the 50th percentile and crime safety beats 67%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Madison County
Is Madison County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Madison County ranks 253rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, fast internet, and a strong job market, and lowest on taxes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Madison County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $307,114. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $96,353 median income, cost of living beats 96% of counties.
Is Madison County safe?
Yes, Madison County is safer than 67% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $310 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Madison County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 35. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 20% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Madison County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Gurley & Brownsboro, Owens Cross Roads & New Hope, and Madison. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Madison County good for families?
Schools beat 50% of counties, crime safety beats 67%, and childcare runs $639 a month.
Is Madison County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 96% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Madison County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Madison County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Madison 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.
Madison County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Madison County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Madison County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Madison County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Madison County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Madison 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.