Best PlacesSmuteye, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Smuteye, 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.
Smuteye ranks 48,882nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Smuteye
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.
Smuteye's strengths and weaknesses
Where Smuteye ranks high
- QuietBetter than 92% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 85% of towns
- Cheap childcare$609 a month, better than 78% of towns
Where Smuteye ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$39,526 median, better than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Smuteye
A household needs to earn about $24,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Smuteye home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $39,526, 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 Smuteye's effective rate of 0.36%, 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 Smuteye
Smuteye runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Smuteye.
Who works in Smuteye, and how
Work in Smuteye centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Smuteye
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Smuteye.
What the weather is like in Smuteye, month by month
Smuteye sees roughly 96 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 79° | 65° | 53° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 81° | 68° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Smuteye
The nearest airport, Dothan Regional, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 134 miles away.
The best schools in and around Smuteye
Schools across Smuteye average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Union Springs Elementary SchoolF · 9% proficient
- Barbour County Intermediate SchoolF · 7% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Highlands Middle SchoolF · 7% proficient
Top high schools
- Barbour County High SchoolF · 9% proficient
- Bullock County High SchoolF · 7% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Smuteye school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Smuteye 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 Smuteye against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Smuteye
Is Smuteye a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Smuteye ranks 48,882nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, low property taxes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on education levels and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Smuteye expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $98,910. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $39,526 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Smuteye safe?
Smuteye is safer than 6% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $608 per resident a year.
Compare Smuteye with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Smuteye. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Smuteye 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.
Smuteye detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Smuteye: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Smuteye: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Smuteye: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Smuteye: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Smuteye 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.