Best PlacesWadley, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wadley, 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.
Wadley ranks 46,621st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wadley
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.
Wadley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wadley ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Cheap childcare$560 a month, better than 86% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 75% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 74% of towns
Where Wadley ranks low
- Household income$42,628 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wadley
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wadley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $42,628, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Wadley's effective rate of 0.20%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wadley
Wadley runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wadley.
Who works in Wadley, and how
Work in Wadley 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 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Wadley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wadley.
What the weather is like in Wadley, month by month
Wadley sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 46° | 34° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Wadley
The nearest airport, Columbus, is about 57 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wadley
Schools across Wadley average a D+, better than 16% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Knight Enloe Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Lineville Elementary SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Pleasant Grove Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cleburne County Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Handley Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Central Jr High School Of Clay CountyC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Cleburne County High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Randolph County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Handley High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wadley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wadley 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 Wadley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wadley
Is Wadley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wadley ranks 46,621st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, state infrastructure, and affordable childcare, and lowest on low incomes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wadley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $205,317. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $42,628 median income, cost of living beats 6% of towns.
Is Wadley safe?
Wadley is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $341 per resident a year.
Compare Wadley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wadley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wadley 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.
Wadley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wadley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wadley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wadley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wadley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wadley 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.