Best PlacesRussell County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Russell County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Russell County ranks 2,640th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Russell 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.
The best areas in Russell County
The parts of Russell County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Oswichee & Fort Mitchell
More households have young kids, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Phenix City
It is noisier and tree cover is thinner.
Seale
More homes sit empty and commutes are longer.
Scores across Russell County run from about the 3rd to the 58th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Russell County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Russell County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 76% of counties
Where Russell County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of counties
- Household income$53,016 median, better than only 13% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Russell County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Russell County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,016, 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 Russell County's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Russell County
Russell 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 Russell County.
Who works in Russell County, and how
Work in Russell County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Russell County
Russell County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Russell County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Russell County growing, and who is moving in?
Russell County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Columbus, GA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Russell County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Russell County, month by month
Russell County sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| April | 80° | 66° | 52° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Russell County
The nearest airport, Columbus, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Russell County
Schools across Russell County average a C−, better than 21% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sherwood Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Mount Olive Intermediate SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Dixie Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Girard SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Russell County Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Phenix City Intermediate SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Central High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
- Russell County High SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Eufaula High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Russell County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Russell 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 Russell County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Russell County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Russell County
Is Russell County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Russell County ranks 2,640th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, low property taxes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Russell County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $162,543. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $53,016 median income, cost of living beats 12% of counties.
Is Russell County safe?
Russell County is safer than 14% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $493 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Russell County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 37. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Russell County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Oswichee & Fort Mitchell, Phenix City, and Seale. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Russell County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Russell County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Russell 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.
Russell County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Russell County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Russell County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Russell County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Russell County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Russell 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.