Best PlacesPelham, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pelham, 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.
Pelham ranks 6,934th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pelham
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.
Pelham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pelham ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of towns
Where Pelham ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 13% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 35% of towns
- Short commute28.8 minutes each way, better than only 40% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pelham
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pelham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $99,141, 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 Pelham's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pelham
Pelham'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 Pelham.
Who works in Pelham, and how
Work in Pelham centers on health care & social and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Pelham
Pelham has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of towns and more parkland per resident than 87% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Pelham and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Pelham, month by month
Pelham sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 46° | 36° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 78° | 66° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Pelham
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pelham
Schools across Pelham average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Meadow View Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Creek View Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Oak Mountain Intermediate SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Robert F Bumpus Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Oak Mountain Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Berry Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Oak Mountain High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Spain Park High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Hoover High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pelham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pelham 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 Pelham against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Pelham suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Pelham
Is Pelham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pelham ranks 6,934th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, fast internet, and an educated workforce, and lowest on air quality and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pelham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $308,419. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $99,141 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Pelham safe?
Yes, Pelham is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $284 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Pelham?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 36. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of towns.
Is Pelham good for families?
Schools beat 62% of towns, crime safety beats 56%, and childcare runs $704 a month.
Compare Pelham with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pelham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pelham 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.
Pelham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pelham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pelham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pelham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pelham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pelham 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.