Best PlacesWalker County, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Walker County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Walker County ranks 2,567th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Walker 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 Walker County
The parts of Walker 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.
Jasper
More adults hold degrees, commutes are shorter, and advertised internet is faster.
Nauvoo & Carbon Hill
Fewer households have young kids and more homes sit empty.
Parrish
It is quieter and prices have run up less.
Oakman
Cordova, Sumiton & Dora
Local pay stretches less far and incomes run lower.
Scores across Walker County run from about the 3rd to the 59th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Walker County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Walker County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 91% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 86% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 62% of counties
Where Walker County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Short commute31.2 minutes each way, better than only 12% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 13% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Walker County
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Walker County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,369, 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 Walker County's effective rate of 0.23%, 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 Walker County
Walker County'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 Walker County.
Who works in Walker County, and how
Work in Walker County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Walker County
Walker County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Walker County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Walker County growing, and who is moving in?
Walker County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Birmingham, AL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Walker County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Walker County, month by month
Walker County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 57, 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 | 57° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 95° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 80° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Walker County
The nearest airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 162 miles away.
The best schools in and around Walker County
Schools across Walker County average a C−, better than 21% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Memorial Park Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Cordova Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Parrish Elementarymiddle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Maddox Intermediate SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Jasper Junior High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Bankhead Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Jasper High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Lynn High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Curry High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Walker County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Walker 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 Walker County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Walker County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Walker County
Is Walker County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Walker County ranks 2,567th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and state infrastructure, 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 Walker County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $145,465. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $60,369 median income, cost of living beats 30% of counties.
Is Walker County safe?
Walker County is safer than 49% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $322 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Walker County?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 34. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 17% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Walker County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Jasper, Nauvoo & Carbon Hill, and Parrish. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Walker County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Walker County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Walker 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.
Walker County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Walker County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Walker County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Walker County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Walker County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Walker 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.