Best PlacesUnion Grove, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Union Grove, 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.
Union Grove ranks 13,843rd 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 Union Grove
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.
Union Grove's strengths and weaknesses
Where Union Grove ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of towns
- Cheap childcare$557 a month, better than 86% of towns
- Household income$91,623 median, better than 78% of towns
Where Union Grove ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 31% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 38% of towns
- School gradeC, better than only 40% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 77 pleasant days a year, better than only 41% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Union Grove
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Union Grove home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,623, 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 Union Grove's effective rate of 0.29%, 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 Union Grove
Union Grove runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Union Grove.
Who works in Union Grove, and how
Work in Union Grove centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Union Grove
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Union Grove.
What the weather is like in Union Grove, month by month
Union Grove sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 76° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Union Grove
The nearest airport, Huntsville International-Carl T Jones Field, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 117 miles away.
The best schools in and around Union Grove
Schools across Union Grove average a C, better than 40% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- New Hope Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Holly Pond Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Union Hill SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- Arab Junior High SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Guntersville Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Arab High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- New Hope High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Guntersville High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Union Grove school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Union Grove 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 Union Grove against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Union Grove
Is Union Grove a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Union Grove ranks 13,843rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, state infrastructure, and what local pay buys, and lowest on taxes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Union Grove expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $211,685. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $91,623 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is Union Grove safe?
Union Grove is safer than 51% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
Compare Union Grove with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Union Grove. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Union Grove 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.
Union Grove detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Union Grove: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Union Grove: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Union Grove: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Union Grove: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Union Grove 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.