Best PlacesRed Bay, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Red Bay, 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.
Red Bay ranks 33,894th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Red Bay
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.
Red Bay's strengths and weaknesses
Where Red Bay ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Short commute20.3 minutes each way, better than 87% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of towns
Where Red Bay ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Household income$45,984 median, better than only 8% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 17% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 21% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Red Bay
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Red Bay home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $45,984, 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 Red Bay's effective rate of 0.35%, 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 Red Bay
Red Bay runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Red Bay.
Who works in Red Bay, and how
Work in Red Bay centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 0%
Life in Red Bay
Red Bay has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Red Bay and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Red Bay, month by month
Red Bay sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 53, 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 | 53° | 41° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 76° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Red Bay
The nearest airport, Northwest Alabama Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Red Bay
Schools across Red Bay average a D+, better than 17% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Tishomingo ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Red Bay ElementaryC− · 26% proficient
- Cherokee Elementary SchoolD · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Red Bay High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Cherokee High SchoolD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Red Bay school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Red Bay 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 Red Bay against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Red Bay
Is Red Bay a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Red Bay ranks 33,894th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low property taxes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Red Bay expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $110,036. The overall cost of living runs about 27% below the national average. Set against a $45,984 median income, cost of living beats 21% of towns.
Is Red Bay safe?
Red Bay is safer than 36% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $329 per resident a year.
Compare Red Bay with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Red Bay. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Red Bay 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.
Red Bay detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Red Bay: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Red Bay: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Red Bay: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Red Bay: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Red Bay 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.