Best PlacesSpruce Pine, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Spruce Pine, 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.
Spruce Pine ranks 31,460th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Spruce Pine
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.
Spruce Pine's strengths and weaknesses
Where Spruce Pine ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 93% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 80% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 112 pleasant days a year, better than 75% of towns
Where Spruce Pine ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 14% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 20% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Spruce Pine
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Spruce Pine home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,070, 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 Spruce Pine'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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Spruce Pine
Spruce Pine runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Spruce Pine.
Who works in Spruce Pine, and how
Work in Spruce Pine centers on other services and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Spruce Pine
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Spruce Pine.
What the weather is like in Spruce Pine, month by month
Spruce Pine sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 41° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 76° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Spruce Pine
The nearest airport, Northwest Alabama Regional, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 132 miles away.
The best schools in and around Spruce Pine
Schools across Spruce Pine average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Russellville Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Phil Campbell Elementary SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Hackleburg Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Russellville Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Russellville High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Hackleburg High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Phil Campbell High SchoolD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Spruce Pine school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Spruce Pine 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 Spruce Pine against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Spruce Pine
Is Spruce Pine a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Spruce Pine ranks 31,460th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, low property taxes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Spruce Pine expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $163,558. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $61,070 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is Spruce Pine safe?
Spruce Pine is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $389 per resident a year.
Compare Spruce Pine with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Spruce Pine. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Spruce Pine 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.
Spruce Pine detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Spruce Pine: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Spruce Pine: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Spruce Pine: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Spruce Pine: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Spruce Pine 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.