Best PlacesNitrate City, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nitrate City, 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.
Nitrate City ranks 36,894th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Nitrate City
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.
Nitrate City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nitrate City ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 78% of towns
- Cheap childcare$639 a month, better than 74% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 70% of towns
Where Nitrate City ranks low
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Short commute34.8 minutes each way, better than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nitrate City
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nitrate City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,198, 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 Nitrate City'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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Nitrate City
Nitrate City 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 Nitrate City.
Who works in Nitrate City, and how
Work in Nitrate City centers on public administration and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Nitrate City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Nitrate City.
What the weather is like in Nitrate City, month by month
Nitrate City sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 54, 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 | 54° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 78° | 65° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Nitrate City
The nearest airport, Northwest Alabama Regional, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 108 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nitrate City
Schools across Nitrate City average a D, better than 7% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hatton Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Leighton Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Colbert County High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nitrate City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nitrate City 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 Nitrate City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nitrate City
Is Nitrate City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nitrate City ranks 36,894th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, state infrastructure, and a stable housing market, and lowest on the schools and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nitrate City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $204,347. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $70,198 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is Nitrate City safe?
Nitrate City is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $561 per resident a year.
Compare Nitrate City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nitrate City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nitrate City 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.
Nitrate City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nitrate City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nitrate City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nitrate City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nitrate City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nitrate City 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.