Best PlacesShady Grove, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shady Grove, 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.
Shady Grove ranks 32,338th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Shady Grove
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.
Shady Grove's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shady Grove ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 89% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Cheap childcare$549 a month, better than 87% of towns
Where Shady Grove ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 14% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 15% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Shady Grove
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shady Grove home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,645, 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 Shady Grove's effective rate of 0.13%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Shady Grove
Shady Grove runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Shady Grove.
Who works in Shady Grove, and how
Work in Shady Grove centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Shady Grove
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Shady Grove.
What the weather is like in Shady Grove, month by month
Shady Grove sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 46° | 34° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Shady Grove
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 96 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shady Grove
Schools across Shady Grove average a D+, better than 14% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Nathaniel H Stephens Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Ashland Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nicholslawson Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Alexander City Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Central Jr High School Of Clay CountyC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Sylacauga High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Benjamin Russell High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Central High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shady Grove school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shady Grove 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 Shady Grove against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Shady Grove
Is Shady Grove a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shady Grove ranks 32,338th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and quiet, and lowest on cell coverage and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shady Grove expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $139,022. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $66,645 median income, cost of living beats 55% of towns.
Is Shady Grove safe?
Shady Grove is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $339 per resident a year.
Compare Shady Grove with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shady Grove. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shady Grove 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.
Shady Grove detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shady Grove: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shady Grove: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shady Grove: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shady Grove: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shady Grove 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.