Best PlacesPickens County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pickens County, 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.
Pickens County ranks 2,886th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pickens 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.
Pickens County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pickens County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- QuietBetter than 84% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of counties
Where Pickens County ranks low
- School gradeD, better than only 3% of counties
- Household income$49,717 median, better than only 8% of counties
- Short commute32.6 minutes each way, better than only 8% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pickens County
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pickens County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,717, 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 Pickens County's effective rate of 0.24%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pickens County
Pickens 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 Pickens County.
Who works in Pickens County, and how
Work in Pickens County centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Pickens County
Pickens County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Pickens County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Pickens County growing, and who is moving in?
Pickens County has lost about 9% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Marshall County, AL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pickens County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pickens County, month by month
Pickens County sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 77° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Pickens County
The nearest airport, Golden Triangle Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 163 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pickens County
Schools across Pickens County average a D, better than 3% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Buhl Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- New Hope Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Gordo Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Hope Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Sipsey Valley Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- New Hope High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Sipsey Valley High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Gordo High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pickens County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pickens 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 Pickens County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Pickens County
Is Pickens County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pickens County ranks 2,886th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, a stable housing market, and state infrastructure, and lowest on the schools and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pickens County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $132,599. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $49,717 median income, cost of living beats 14% of counties.
Is Pickens County safe?
Pickens County is safer than 17% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $490 per resident a year.
Compare Pickens County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pickens County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pickens 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.
Pickens County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pickens County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pickens County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pickens County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pickens County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pickens 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.