Best PlacesSand Rock, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sand Rock, 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.
Sand Rock ranks 31,376th 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 Sand Rock
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.
Sand Rock's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sand Rock ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Cheap childcare$528 a month, better than 90% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 81% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 70% of towns
Where Sand Rock ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 15% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 25% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 26% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sand Rock
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sand Rock home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,426, 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 Sand Rock's effective rate of 0.27%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sand Rock
Sand Rock runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sand Rock.
Who works in Sand Rock, and how
Work in Sand Rock centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sand Rock
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sand Rock.
What the weather is like in Sand Rock, month by month
Sand Rock sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Sand Rock
The nearest airport, Huntsville International-Carl T Jones Field, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sand Rock
Schools across Sand Rock average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Centre Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Duck Springs Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Highland Elementary SchoolC · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Centre Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Cherokee County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Gadsden City High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Crossville High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sand Rock school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sand Rock 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 Sand Rock against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sand Rock
Is Sand Rock a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sand Rock ranks 31,376th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, affordable childcare, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sand Rock expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $179,373. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $63,426 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Sand Rock safe?
Yes, Sand Rock is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $256 per resident a year.
Compare Sand Rock with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sand Rock. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sand Rock 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.
Sand Rock detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sand Rock: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sand Rock: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sand Rock: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sand Rock: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sand Rock 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.