Best PlacesShortleaf, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shortleaf, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Shortleaf ranks 49,026th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Shortleaf
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.
Shortleaf's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shortleaf ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 78% of towns
Where Shortleaf ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$26,782 median, better than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Shortleaf
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shortleaf home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $26,782, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Shortleaf's effective rate of 0.32%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Shortleaf
Shortleaf runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Shortleaf.
Who works in Shortleaf, and how
Work in Shortleaf centers on other services and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Shortleaf
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Shortleaf.
What the weather is like in Shortleaf, month by month
Shortleaf sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 58, 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 | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 77° | 65° | 53° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Shortleaf
The nearest airport, Key Field, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 214 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shortleaf
Schools across Shortleaf average a D+, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eutaw Primary SchoolD · 18% proficient
- York West End Junior High SchoolF · 9% proficient
Top middle schools
- Demopolis Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Robert Brown Middle SchoolF · 4% proficient
Top high schools
- Demopolis High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Greene County High SchoolF · 7% proficient
- Sumter Central High SchoolF · 4% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shortleaf school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shortleaf 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 Shortleaf against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Shortleaf
Is Shortleaf a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shortleaf ranks 49,026th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, low property taxes, and clean air, and lowest on crime 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 Shortleaf expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $132,450. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $26,782 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Shortleaf safe?
Shortleaf is safer than 0% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,258 per resident a year.
Compare Shortleaf with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shortleaf. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shortleaf 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.
Shortleaf detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shortleaf: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shortleaf: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shortleaf: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shortleaf: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shortleaf 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.