Best PlacesThorsby, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Thorsby, 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.
Thorsby ranks 21,770th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. The schools pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in Thorsby
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.
Thorsby's strengths and weaknesses
Where Thorsby ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 84% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 78% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 74% of towns
Where Thorsby ranks low
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 17% of towns
- Short commute30.9 minutes each way, better than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Thorsby
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thorsby home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,231, 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 Thorsby's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Thorsby
Thorsby'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 Thorsby.
Who works in Thorsby, and how
Work in Thorsby centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Thorsby
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Thorsby.
What the weather is like in Thorsby, month by month
Thorsby sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 78° | 65° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Thorsby
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 142 miles away.
The best schools in and around Thorsby
Schools across Thorsby average a D, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Jemison Elementary SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jemison Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Chilton County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thorsby school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thorsby 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 Thorsby against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Thorsby
Is Thorsby a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thorsby ranks 21,770th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, a stable housing market, and a strong job market, and lowest on the schools and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thorsby expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $189,700. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $80,231 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Thorsby safe?
Yes, Thorsby is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $226 per resident a year.
Compare Thorsby with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thorsby. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thorsby 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.
Thorsby detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thorsby: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thorsby: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thorsby: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thorsby: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thorsby 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.