Best PlacesSmiths Station, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Smiths Station, 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.
Smiths Station ranks 19,826th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on cell coverage, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Smiths Station
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.
Smiths Station's strengths and weaknesses
Where Smiths Station ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 83% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of towns
Where Smiths Station ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 32% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Smiths Station
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Smiths Station home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,622, 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 Smiths Station's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Smiths Station
Smiths Station'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 Smiths Station.
Who works in Smiths Station, and how
Work in Smiths Station centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Smiths Station
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Smiths Station.
What the weather is like in Smiths Station, month by month
Smiths Station sees roughly 75 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 Smiths Station
The nearest airport, Columbus, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Smiths Station
Schools across Smiths Station average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Smiths Station Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
- East Smiths Station Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- West Smiths Station Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Smiths Station Junior High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Smiths Station High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Smiths Station school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Smiths Station 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 Smiths Station against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Smiths Station
Is Smiths Station a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Smiths Station ranks 19,826th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, state infrastructure, and fast internet, and lowest on taxes and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Smiths Station expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,076. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $75,622 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Smiths Station safe?
Smiths Station is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $283 per resident a year.
Compare Smiths Station with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Smiths Station. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Smiths Station 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.
Smiths Station detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Smiths Station: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Smiths Station: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Smiths Station: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Smiths Station: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Smiths Station 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.