Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is Alabama a good place?
The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in Alabama.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Heart of Dixie based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.
The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of Alabama, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 67 counties in the state.
Shelby County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in Alabama. And you should avoid Bullock County if you can — at least according to the data.
$97,961 median income · 2.9% unemployment
$72,481 median income · 2.4% unemployment
$86,499 median income · 3.6% unemployment
$78,775 median income · 3.0% unemployment
$83,629 median income · 3.3% unemployment
$78,243 median income · 4.6% unemployment
$77,463 median income · 4.6% unemployment
$65,824 median income · 3.5% unemployment
$62,649 median income · 4.1% unemployment
$66,071 median income · 2.0% unemployment
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Alabama’s statewide median.
Alabama statewide median: $63,999
Alabama statewide median: $236,453
Alabama statewide median: 4.7%
On the map
Where Alabama’s best counties are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine which Alabama county is the best?
To give you the best county in Alabama, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.
With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.
We paid particular attention to:
- Violent Crime Rates
- Property Crime Rates
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Unemployment Rates
- Adult Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty Rates
We then ranked each county in Alabama across each of the criteria from one to 67, with one being the best.
Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In Alabama.”
The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Heart of Dixie.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best counties to live in Alabama.
Read on to see why Shelby County is the best county, while Bullock County is probably in contention for being the worst county in Alabama.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Best Counties In Alabama
Click any column to sort. Search by county name.
| Rank | County | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shelby County | 230,211 | $97,961 | $359,370 |
| 2 | Autauga County | 59,947 | $72,481 | $260,499 |
| 3 | Madison County | 405,718 | $86,499 | $311,719 |
| 4 | Baldwin County | 246,989 | $78,775 | $369,803 |
| 5 | Limestone County | 111,233 | $83,629 | $319,480 |
| 6 | Elmore County | 89,526 | $78,243 | $269,858 |
| 7 | St. Clair County | 94,166 | $77,463 | $254,927 |
| 8 | Lee County | 181,134 | $65,824 | $344,151 |
| 9 | Lauderdale County | 95,830 | $62,649 | $223,857 |
| 10 | Lawrence County | 33,276 | $66,071 | $223,086 |
| 11 | Tuscaloosa County | 237,552 | $66,231 | $229,616 |
| 12 | Colbert County | 58,022 | $60,628 | $197,333 |
| 13 | Washington County | 15,143 | $61,042 | $169,325 |
| 13 | Cleburne County | 15,426 | $55,345 | $230,137 |
| 15 | Jefferson County | 667,755 | $66,388 | $215,144 |
| 16 | Morgan County | 124,471 | $68,845 | $234,072 |
| 17 | Tallapoosa County | 40,938 | $59,356 | $269,000 |
| 18 | Cullman County | 90,566 | $62,656 | $255,134 |
| 19 | Cherokee County | 25,443 | $53,863 | $225,416 |
| 20 | Clay County | 14,192 | $55,250 | $181,444 |
| 21 | Mobile County | 412,590 | $58,880 | $194,293 |
| 22 | Blount County | 59,518 | $64,190 | $230,362 |
| 23 | Chilton County | 45,992 | $65,603 | $217,253 |
| 24 | Coffee County | 54,920 | $68,353 | $175,288 |
| 25 | Houston County | 108,140 | $58,626 | $200,765 |
| 26 | Marshall County | 99,748 | $62,571 | $241,702 |
| 26 | Coosa County | 10,300 | $57,355 | $180,903 |
| 28 | Henry County | 17,647 | $59,931 | $190,852 |
| 29 | Talladega County | 81,021 | $57,776 | $181,265 |
| 30 | Randolph County | 22,510 | $52,338 | $205,008 |
| 31 | Winston County | 23,682 | $57,256 | $202,083 |
| 32 | Montgomery County | 226,718 | $59,386 | $164,623 |
| 33 | Calhoun County | 116,090 | $55,029 | $171,219 |
| 34 | Pike County | 32,987 | $48,677 | $164,687 |
| 35 | Pickens County | 18,721 | $46,274 | $143,708 |
| 36 | Etowah County | 103,105 | $54,563 | $180,673 |
| 37 | Jackson County | 53,053 | $51,908 | $191,415 |
| 38 | Choctaw County | 12,380 | $47,813 | $128,421 |
| 38 | Crenshaw County | 13,122 | $48,560 | $138,753 |
| 40 | Dale County | 49,599 | $54,963 | $159,481 |
| 41 | Lamar County | 13,693 | $50,000 | $133,416 |
| 42 | Russell County | 58,811 | $51,197 | $196,108 |
| 43 | Walker County | 64,841 | $56,509 | $131,100 |
| 44 | Marion County | 29,184 | $50,088 | $159,893 |
| 45 | Covington County | 37,628 | $52,456 | $156,569 |
| 45 | Bibb County | 22,130 | $52,541 | $214,089 |
| 47 | Franklin County | 31,966 | $53,338 | $176,949 |
| 48 | Chambers County | 34,192 | $49,656 | $141,428 |
| 49 | Hale County | 14,829 | $39,250 | $176,171 |
| 50 | Fayette County | 16,053 | $49,488 | $145,035 |
| 51 | Marengo County | 18,851 | $43,825 | $138,311 |
| 52 | Clarke County | 22,543 | $49,249 | $136,491 |
| 53 | Conecuh County | 11,275 | $41,327 | $126,368 |
| 54 | Geneva County | 26,887 | $52,771 | $162,101 |
| 55 | DeKalb County | 72,269 | $51,204 | $172,017 |
| 56 | Escambia County | 36,629 | $48,225 | $142,992 |
| 57 | Lowndes County | 9,833 | $37,052 | $143,774 |
| 58 | Greene County | 7,424 | $29,200 | $132,681 |
| 58 | Dallas County | 36,858 | $35,627 | $89,767 |
| 60 | Perry County | 8,031 | $37,654 | $128,590 |
| 61 | Monroe County | 19,388 | $42,292 | $137,223 |
| 62 | Sumter County | 11,878 | $33,310 | $102,029 |
| 63 | Barbour County | 24,643 | $46,042 | $148,560 |
| 64 | Butler County | 18,630 | $44,755 | $113,980 |
| 65 | Macon County | 18,691 | $43,707 | $128,356 |
| 66 | Wilcox County | 10,172 | $40,640 | $140,996 |
| 67 | Bullock County | 10,058 | $31,310 | $125,153 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS + FBI crime data via Saturday Night Science. All 67 Alabama counties.
Summary
Summary: The Best Counties In Alabama To Call Home For 2026
Living in Alabama can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?
The best counties in Alabama are Shelby County, Autauga County, Madison County, Baldwin County, Limestone County, Elmore County, St. Clair County, Lee County, Lauderdale County, and Lawrence County.
But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.
You are welcome.
