Best PlacesMegargel, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Megargel, 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.
Megargel ranks 46,491st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Megargel
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.
Megargel's strengths and weaknesses
Where Megargel ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of towns
- Cheap childcare$615 a month, better than 78% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 65% of towns
Where Megargel ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 5% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Megargel
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Megargel home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,141, 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 Megargel's effective rate of 0.21%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Megargel
Megargel runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Megargel.
Who works in Megargel, and how
Work in Megargel centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Megargel
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Megargel.
What the weather is like in Megargel, month by month
Megargel sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 80° | 66° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 82° | 68° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Megargel
The nearest airport, Pensacola International, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 194 miles away.
The best schools in and around Megargel
Schools across Megargel average a D+, better than 15% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Repton Junior High SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Hillcrest High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Megargel school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Megargel 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 Megargel against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Megargel
Is Megargel a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Megargel ranks 46,491st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, state infrastructure, and a stable housing market, and lowest on health outcomes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Megargel expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $104,157. The overall cost of living runs about 25% below the national average. Set against a $56,141 median income, cost of living beats 32% of towns.
Is Megargel safe?
Megargel is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $461 per resident a year.
Compare Megargel with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Megargel. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Megargel 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.
Megargel detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Megargel: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Megargel: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Megargel: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Megargel: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Megargel 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.