Best PlacesVandiver, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Vandiver, 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.
Vandiver ranks 27,762nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Vandiver
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.
Vandiver's strengths and weaknesses
Where Vandiver ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Vandiver ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 20% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Vandiver
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vandiver home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,256, 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 Vandiver's effective rate of 0.24%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Vandiver
Vandiver runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Vandiver.
Who works in Vandiver, and how
Work in Vandiver centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Vandiver
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Vandiver.
What the weather is like in Vandiver, month by month
Vandiver sees roughly 87 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 Vandiver
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 120 miles away.
The best schools in and around Vandiver
Schools across Vandiver average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mt Laurel Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Chelsea Park Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Eden Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chelsea Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Leeds Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Williams Intermediate SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Chelsea High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Pell City High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vandiver school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vandiver 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 Vandiver against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Vandiver
Is Vandiver a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vandiver ranks 27,762nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, a strong job market, and few empty homes, and lowest on air quality and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Vandiver expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $172,535. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $58,256 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Vandiver safe?
Vandiver is safer than 33% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $339 per resident a year.
Compare Vandiver with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vandiver. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vandiver 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.
Vandiver detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vandiver: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vandiver: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vandiver: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vandiver: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vandiver 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.