Best PlacesSt. Clair County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in St. Clair County, 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.
St. Clair County ranks 1,516th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in St. Clair County
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.
The best areas in St. Clair County
The parts of St. Clair County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Margaret & Argo
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and fewer homes sit empty.
Springville
Tree cover is thicker and health care is easier to reach.
Moody
More households have young kids and prices have run up less.
Pell City
Heat risk is lower and commutes are shorter.
Odenville
Cropwell
Fewer residents vote and crime runs higher.
Ashville, Steele & Ragland
It is quieter, though health outcomes score lower.
Scores across St. Clair County run from about the 6th to the 90th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
St. Clair County's strengths and weaknesses
Where St. Clair County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 83% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of counties
Where St. Clair County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 7% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 13% of counties
- Short commute30.7 minutes each way, better than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in St. Clair County
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Clair County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,376, 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 St. Clair County's effective rate of 0.27%, 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 St. Clair County
St. Clair County'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 St. Clair County.
Who works in St. Clair County, and how
Work in St. Clair County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in St. Clair County
St. Clair County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of St. Clair County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is St. Clair County growing, and who is moving in?
St. Clair County has grown about 13% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Birmingham, AL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving St. Clair County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in St. Clair County, month by month
St. Clair County sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 56, 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 | 56° | 45° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 79° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of St. Clair County
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around St. Clair County
Schools across St. Clair County average a C, better than 38% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Paine Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Moody Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Springville Elementary SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hewitttrussville Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Springville Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Ashville Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Hewitttrussville High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Springville High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Ashville High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Clair County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
St. Clair County 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 St. Clair County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who St. Clair County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 81% of counties and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in St. Clair County
Is St. Clair County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Clair County ranks 1,516th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, a strong job market, and state infrastructure, and lowest on walkability and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is St. Clair County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $224,968. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $82,376 median income, cost of living beats 81% of counties.
Is St. Clair County safe?
St. Clair County is safer than 43% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $328 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in St. Clair County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 37. That works out to about 88 pleasant days a year, more than 49% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in St. Clair County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Margaret & Argo, Springville, and Moody. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare St. Clair County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Clair County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in St. Clair County 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.
St. Clair County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Clair County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Clair County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Clair County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Clair County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
St. Clair County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.