Best PlacesMarshall County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Marshall 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.
Marshall County ranks 1,614th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Marshall 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 Marshall County
The parts of Marshall 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.
Grant
Tree cover is thicker, more adults hold degrees, and local pay stretches further.
Arab
Fewer homes sit empty and schools score higher.
Union Grove
Incomes run higher, though fewer households have young kids.
Albertville & Boaz
It is noisier and health care is harder to reach.
Guntersville
Prices have run up more and crime runs higher.
Scores across Marshall County run from about the 7th to the 82nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Marshall County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Marshall County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 96% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 91% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Cheap childcare$531 a month, better than 86% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 70% of counties
Where Marshall County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 20% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 27% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 33% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Marshall County
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marshall County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,733, 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 Marshall County's effective rate of 0.31%, 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 Marshall County
Marshall 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 Marshall County.
Who works in Marshall County, and how
Work in Marshall County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Marshall County
Marshall County has more late-night spots per resident than 69% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Marshall County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Marshall County growing, and who is moving in?
Marshall County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jackson County, AL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Marshall County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Marshall County, month by month
Marshall County sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 72° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Marshall County
The nearest airport, Huntsville International-Carl T Jones Field, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marshall County
Schools across Marshall County average a C, better than 36% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Arab Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Cherokee Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- New Hope Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- Arab Junior High SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Guntersville Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Kate Duncan Smith Dar MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Arab High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Kate D Smith Dar High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- New Hope High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Marshall County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marshall 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 Marshall County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Marshall County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Marshall County
Is Marshall County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marshall County ranks 1,614th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, a strong job market, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Marshall County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $207,392. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $67,733 median income, cost of living beats 64% of counties.
Is Marshall County safe?
Marshall County is safer than 40% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $338 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Marshall County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 35. That works out to about 91 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Marshall County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Grant, Arab, and Union Grove. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Marshall County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marshall County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marshall 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.
Marshall County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marshall County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marshall County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marshall County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marshall County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marshall 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.