Best PlacesRyan, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ryan, 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.
Ryan ranks 7,563rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on low property taxes, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ryan
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.
Ryan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ryan ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 85% of towns
Where Ryan ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 37% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 38% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 38% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ryan
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ryan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,695, 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 Ryan's effective rate of 0.38%, 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 Ryan
Ryan runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ryan.
Who works in Ryan, and how
Work in Ryan centers on education and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ryan
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ryan.
What the weather is like in Ryan, month by month
Ryan sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Ryan
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 143 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ryan
Schools across Ryan average a C+, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Meadow View Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Creek View Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Montevallo Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thompson Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Montevallo Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Thompson High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Montevallo High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ryan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ryan 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 Ryan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ryan
Is Ryan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ryan ranks 7,563rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, fast internet, and state infrastructure, and lowest on air quality and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ryan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $279,769. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $87,695 median income, cost of living beats 84% of towns.
Is Ryan safe?
Yes, Ryan is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
Compare Ryan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ryan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ryan 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.
Ryan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ryan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ryan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ryan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ryan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ryan 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.