Best PlacesPoarch, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Poarch, 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.
Poarch ranks 44,192nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Poarch
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.
Poarch's strengths and weaknesses
Where Poarch ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 123 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of towns
Where Poarch ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Poarch
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Poarch home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,509, 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 Poarch'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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Poarch
Poarch'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 Poarch.
Who works in Poarch, and how
Work in Poarch centers on retail trade and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Poarch
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Poarch.
What the weather is like in Poarch, month by month
Poarch sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 48° | 39° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 72° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Poarch
The nearest airport, Mobile International, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 180 miles away.
The best schools in and around Poarch
Schools across Poarch average a D−, better than 3% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Huxford Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Escambia County Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Escambia County High SchoolF · 6% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Poarch school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Poarch 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 Poarch against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Poarch
Is Poarch a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Poarch ranks 44,192nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, low property taxes, and a stable housing market, and lowest on disaster risk and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Poarch expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $93,200. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $62,509 median income, cost of living beats 39% of towns.
Is Poarch safe?
Poarch is safer than 43% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $303 per resident a year.
Compare Poarch with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Poarch. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Poarch 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.
Poarch detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Poarch: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Poarch: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Poarch: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Poarch: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Poarch 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.