Best PlacesPowell, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Powell, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Powell ranks 30,634th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Powell
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.
Powell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Powell ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- Cheap childcare$528 a month, better than 90% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Short commute23.7 minutes each way, better than 70% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 67% of towns
Where Powell ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 13% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 15% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 27% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Powell
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Powell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,669, 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 Powell's effective rate of 0.29%, 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 Powell
Powell'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 Powell.
Who works in Powell, and how
Work in Powell centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Powell
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Powell.
What the weather is like in Powell, month by month
Powell sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 40° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 62° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Powell
The nearest airport, Huntsville International-Carl T Jones Field, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 104 miles away.
The best schools in and around Powell
Schools across Powell average a C+, better than 41% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dutton Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Macedonia SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Scottsboro High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Fort Payne High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Powell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Powell 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 Powell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Powell
Is Powell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Powell ranks 30,634th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, affordable childcare, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Powell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $198,268. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $61,669 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is Powell safe?
Powell is safer than 46% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $296 per resident a year.
Compare Powell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Powell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Powell 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.
Powell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Powell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Powell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Powell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Powell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Powell 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.