Best PlacesRound Mountain, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Round Mountain, 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.
Round Mountain ranks 29,413th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Round Mountain
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.
Round Mountain's strengths and weaknesses
Where Round Mountain ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 81% of towns
- Cheap childcare$635 a month, better than 75% of towns
Where Round Mountain ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 4% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Round Mountain
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Round Mountain home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,477, 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 Round Mountain's effective rate of 0.20%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Round Mountain
Round Mountain runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Round Mountain.
Who works in Round Mountain, and how
Work in Round Mountain centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Round Mountain
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Round Mountain.
What the weather is like in Round Mountain, month by month
Round Mountain sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 47° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 66° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Round Mountain
The nearest airport, Columbus, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Round Mountain
Schools across Round Mountain average a D−, better than 4% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dadeville Elementary SchoolD+ · 21% proficient
- Lafayette Eastside Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
- Loachapoka Elementary SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- John P Powell Middle SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- Loachapoka High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Dadeville High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
- Lafayette High SchoolF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Round Mountain school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Round Mountain 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 Round Mountain against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Round Mountain
Is Round Mountain a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Round Mountain ranks 29,413th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and state infrastructure, and lowest on the schools and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Round Mountain expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $236,945. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $70,477 median income, cost of living beats 59% of towns.
Is Round Mountain safe?
Round Mountain is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $346 per resident a year.
Compare Round Mountain with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Round Mountain. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Round Mountain 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.
Round Mountain detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Round Mountain: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Round Mountain: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Round Mountain: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Round Mountain: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Round Mountain 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.