Best PlacesSouthside, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Southside, 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.
Southside ranks 13,739th 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 Southside
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.
Southside's strengths and weaknesses
Where Southside ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap childcare$532 a month, better than 89% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
Where Southside ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 22% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 31% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 75 pleasant days a year, better than only 37% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 38% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Southside
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Southside home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,218, 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 Southside's effective rate of 0.35%, 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 Southside
Southside runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Southside.
Who works in Southside, and how
Work in Southside centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Southside
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Southside.
What the weather is like in Southside, month by month
Southside sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 42° | 33° |
| April | 75° | 61° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Southside
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Southside
Schools across Southside average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Southside Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- John S Jones Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Glencoe Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rainbow Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Glencoe Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Ohatchee High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Southside High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Glencoe High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Southside school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Southside 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 Southside against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Southside
Is Southside a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Southside ranks 13,739th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, fast internet, and civic engagement, 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 Southside expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,951. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $76,218 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Southside safe?
Yes, Southside is safer than 83% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $193 per resident a year.
Compare Southside with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Southside. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Southside 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.
Southside detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Southside: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Southside: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Southside: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Southside: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Southside 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.