Best PlacesMarengo County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Marengo County, 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.
Marengo County ranks 2,831st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Marengo 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.
Marengo County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Marengo County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 76% of counties
Where Marengo County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 11% of counties
- Household income$51,950 median, better than only 11% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Marengo County
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marengo County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,950, 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 Marengo County's 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 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 Marengo County
Marengo County 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 Marengo County.
Who works in Marengo County, and how
Work in Marengo County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Marengo County
Marengo County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Marengo County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Marengo County growing, and who is moving in?
Marengo County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Tuscaloosa, AL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Marengo County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Marengo County, month by month
Marengo County sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 58, 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 | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 77° | 65° | 53° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Marengo County
The nearest airport, Key Field, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 215 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marengo County
Schools across Marengo County average a C, better than 29% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Us Jones Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Linden Elementary SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top middle schools
- Demopolis Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- George P Austin Junior High SchoolF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Demopolis High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Linden High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Marengo County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marengo 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 Marengo County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Marengo County
Is Marengo County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marengo County ranks 2,831st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, clean air, and a stable housing market, and lowest on crime and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Marengo County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $127,992. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $51,950 median income, cost of living beats 20% of counties.
Is Marengo County safe?
Marengo County is safer than 2% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $773 per resident a year.
Compare Marengo County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marengo County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marengo 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.
Marengo County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marengo County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marengo County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marengo County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marengo County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marengo 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.