Best PlacesTuscaloosa County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Tuscaloosa 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.
Tuscaloosa County ranks 1,267th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on low property taxes and fast internet. The weaker spots are taxes, civic engagement, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Tuscaloosa 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 Tuscaloosa County
The parts of Tuscaloosa 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.
Northport
Crime runs lower, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Mccalla & Lake View
Tree cover is thicker and fewer homes sit empty.
Cottondale, Duncanville & Vance
More households have young kids, though biking is worse.
Holt & Brookwood
Fewer adults hold degrees and schools score lower.
Tuscaloosa
Prices have run up more and fewer residents vote.
Moundville
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Tuscaloosa County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Tuscaloosa County's strengths and weaknesses
Tuscaloosa County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low property taxes, fast internet, and state infrastructure carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Taxes, civic engagement, and noise hold the score down. Cost swings more from one part of Tuscaloosa County to another than it does between Tuscaloosa County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Tuscaloosa County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 96% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 82% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 79% of counties
Where Tuscaloosa County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 17% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 23% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 27% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 43% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Tuscaloosa County
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tuscaloosa County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,788, 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 Tuscaloosa County's effective rate of 0.30%, 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 Tuscaloosa County
Tuscaloosa County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Tuscaloosa County.
Who works in Tuscaloosa County, and how
Work in Tuscaloosa County centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Tuscaloosa County
Tuscaloosa County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 90% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Tuscaloosa County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Tuscaloosa County growing, and who is moving in?
Tuscaloosa County has grown about 19% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Birmingham, AL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Tuscaloosa County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Tuscaloosa County, month by month
Tuscaloosa County sees roughly 98 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 77° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Tuscaloosa County
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 181 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tuscaloosa County
Schools across Tuscaloosa County average a C−, better than 27% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Rock Quarry Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Tuscaloosa Magnet School ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Verner Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tuscaloosa Magnet School MiddleA · 62% proficient
- Northridge Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Echols Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Northridge High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Northside High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Tuscaloosa County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tuscaloosa County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tuscaloosa 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 Tuscaloosa County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Tuscaloosa County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Tuscaloosa County
Is Tuscaloosa County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tuscaloosa County ranks 1,267th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, fast internet, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tuscaloosa County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $264,173. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $70,788 median income, cost of living beats 55% of counties.
Is Tuscaloosa County safe?
Tuscaloosa County is safer than 44% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $379 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Tuscaloosa County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 37. That works out to about 98 pleasant days a year, more than 58% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Tuscaloosa County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Northport, Mccalla & Lake View, and Cottondale, Duncanville & Vance. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Tuscaloosa County good for families?
Schools beat 27% of counties, crime safety beats 44%, and childcare runs $639 a month.
Is Tuscaloosa County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 55% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 87% of counties. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare Tuscaloosa County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tuscaloosa County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tuscaloosa 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.
Tuscaloosa County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tuscaloosa County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tuscaloosa County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tuscaloosa County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tuscaloosa County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tuscaloosa 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.