Best PlacesWalter, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Walter, 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.
Walter ranks 35,633rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Walter
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.
Walter's strengths and weaknesses
Where Walter ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 89% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 79% of towns
Where Walter ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Household income$50,905 median, better than only 13% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 14% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Walter
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Walter home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,905, 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 Walter's effective rate of 0.15%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Walter
Walter runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Walter.
Who works in Walter, and how
Work in Walter centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 0%
Life in Walter
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Walter.
What the weather is like in Walter, month by month
Walter sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Walter
The nearest airport, Huntsville International-Carl T Jones Field, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around Walter
Schools across Walter average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Holly Pond Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Blountsville Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Jb Pennington High SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Holly Pond High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Walter school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Walter 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 Walter against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Walter
Is Walter a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Walter ranks 35,633rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, few empty homes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Walter expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $202,029. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $50,905 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Walter safe?
Walter is safer than 41% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $308 per resident a year.
Compare Walter with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Walter. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Walter 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.
Walter detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Walter: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Walter: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Walter: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Walter: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Walter 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.