Best PlacesOwens Cross Roads, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Owens Cross Roads, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Owens Cross Roads ranks 358th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Owens Cross Roads
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.
Owens Cross Roads' strengths and weaknesses
Where Owens Cross Roads ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of towns
Where Owens Cross Roads ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 24% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 37% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 38% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 39% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Owens Cross Roads
A household needs to earn about $107,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Owens Cross Roads home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $139,869, 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 Owens Cross Roads' effective rate of 0.42%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Owens Cross Roads
Owens Cross Roads'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 Owens Cross Roads.
Who works in Owens Cross Roads, and how
Work in Owens Cross Roads centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Owens Cross Roads
Owens Cross Roads has more parkland per resident than 88% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Owens Cross Roads and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Owens Cross Roads, month by month
Owens Cross Roads 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 Owens Cross Roads
The nearest airport, Huntsville International-Carl T Jones Field, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Owens Cross Roads
Schools across Owens Cross Roads average a B+, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hampton Cove ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Goldsmithschiffman ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Jones Valley Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hampton Cove Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Mountain Gap Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Challenger Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Huntsville High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Virgil Grissom High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Madison County High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Owens Cross Roads school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Owens Cross Roads 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 Owens Cross Roads against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Owens Cross Roads suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 22% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Owens Cross Roads
Is Owens Cross Roads a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Owens Cross Roads ranks 358th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, what local pay buys, and few empty homes, 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 Owens Cross Roads expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $430,025. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $139,869 median income, cost of living beats 99% of towns.
Is Owens Cross Roads safe?
Yes, Owens Cross Roads is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $168 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Owens Cross Roads?
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 24% of towns.
Is Owens Cross Roads good for families?
Schools beat 75% of towns, crime safety beats 91%, and childcare runs $639 a month.
Compare Owens Cross Roads with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Owens Cross Roads. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Owens Cross Roads 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.
Owens Cross Roads detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Owens Cross Roads: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Owens Cross Roads: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Owens Cross Roads: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Owens Cross Roads: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Owens Cross Roads 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.