The 10 Richest Cities In Alabama For 2023


We analyzed 103 places in Alabama to determine where the 1% live.

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Sweet home Alabama, I’m coming home to you — with bags full of cash.

That is, if I live in one of the ten richest places in the Heart of Dixie.

If you already live in one of the wealthiest cities in Alabama, then kudos on your success. But if you’re looking to break into the big league in this southern gem, look no further than our list of top ten richest places in Alabama.

So how did we come to a final tally on the state’s havens of wealth? We poured over the Census data from the American Community Survey for 104 Alabama cities with 5,000. After cutting the numbers down to the more populous locales, we then looked at various statistics like unemployment, poverty rates, and median income and assigned weights and values for each of these factors. Unsurprisingly, there was a good amount of overlap between Alabama’s richest cities and its best and safest cities, especially in the upper echelon.

If you want to live in a spot that ticks all the boxes, then you’ll want to check out the Birmingham ‘burbs of Mountain Brook or Vestavia Hills. You’ll need a private jet to get to the Crimson Tide home game if you’re coming from Spanish Fort, but you may just be able to afford it if you’re living there. The great news about Alabama’s hotspots of wealth is that 8/10 of these cities have a median household income under $100,000/year, so living in the rarefied air of the 1% might be a much more achievable goal than it is in many other states.

So want to know where the richest of the rich reside in Alabama? Grab some grits and gravy with a side of caviar and champagne and read on.

Here are the 10 richest places in Alabama for 2023:

  1. Mountain Brook
  2. Vestavia Hills
  3. Pelham
  4. Trussville
  5. Helena
  6. Pike Road
  7. Calera
  8. Madison
  9. Spanish Fort
  10. Gardendale

So how exactly did we determine which places in Alabama have the most going on monetarily? In order to narrow down the richest cities in Alabama, we looked at a number of factors: poverty rate, median household income, and unemployment rate. The cities also had to have a population of at least 5,000.

That left us with 104 cities to score. What’s the wealthiest city in Alabama? According to the data, Mountain Brook is the winner of this title for 2023.

So if you care about living in a place with low poverty, great job opportunities, and rich residents, look no further than the list below. The Heart of Dixie is calling.

Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about Alabama:

The 10 Richest Cities In Alabama For 2023

1. Mountain Brook

Mountain Brook, AL

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 22,184
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $150,268
Unemployment Rate: 1.4%
Poverty Rate: 4.0%
More on Mountain Brook: Real Estate | Photos

2. Vestavia Hills

Vestavia Hills, AL

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 38,504
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $118,539
Unemployment Rate: 1.6%
Poverty Rate: 3.8%
More on Vestavia Hills: Real Estate | Photos

3. Pelham

Pelham, AL

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 24,134
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 6)
Median Income: $81,606
Unemployment Rate: 1.9%
Poverty Rate: 4.1%
More on Pelham: Real Estate | Photos

4. Trussville

Trussville, AL

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 25,027
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 2)
Median Income: $108,070
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%
Poverty Rate: 3.7%
More on Trussville: Real Estate | Photos

5. Helena

Helena, AL

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 20,680
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $96,173
Unemployment Rate: 2.7%
Poverty Rate: 4.8%
More on Helena: Real Estate | Photos

6. Pike Road

Pike Road, AL

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 9,193
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 1)
Median Income: $109,537
Unemployment Rate: 2.8%
Poverty Rate: 5.6%
More on Pike Road: Real Estate | Photos

7. Calera

Calera, AL

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 16,126
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 1)
Median Income: $70,504
Unemployment Rate: 1.4%
Poverty Rate: 6.7%
More on Calera: Real Estate | Photos

8. Madison

Madison, AL

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 55,551
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 1)
Median Income: $105,335
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 5.0%
More on Madison: Real Estate | Photos

9. Spanish Fort

Spanish Fort, AL

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 9,720
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 6)
Median Income: $89,504
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 3.6%
More on Spanish Fort: Real Estate | Photos

10. Gardendale

Gardendale, AL

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 15,920
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 2)
Median Income: $74,608
Unemployment Rate: 2.5%
Poverty Rate: 5.5%
More on Gardendale: Real Estate | Photos

Methodology: How We Determined The Richest Places In Alabama For 2023

Map Of The Richest Places To Live In Alabama
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.

However, we don’t believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “richest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2017-2021 American Community Survey:

  • Poverty Level
  • Median Household Income
  • Unemployment Rate

Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.

After we collected the data for all 104 places with more than 5,000 people in Alabama, we ranked each place from 1 to 104 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Rich Score” with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Mountain Brook, crowned the “Richest City In Alabama For 2023”. You can download the data here.

You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 104 places.

Summary: The Wealthiest Places In Alabama For 2023

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in Alabama, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Alabama.

When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.

If you’re curious enough, here are the poorest cities in Alabama, according to data:

Poorest: Tuskegee
2nd Poorest: Selma
3rd Poorest: Bessemer

For more Alabama reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In Alabama

Rank City RichScore Median Income
1 Mountain Brook 2.33 $150,268
2 Vestavia Hills 3.0 $118,539
3 Pelham 8.67 $81,606
4 Trussville 10.67 $108,070
5 Helena 11.0 $96,173
6 Pike Road 12.33 $109,537
7 Calera 13.67 $70,504
8 Madison 14.0 $105,335
9 Spanish Fort 14.67 $89,504
10 Gardendale 14.67 $74,608
11 Orange Beach 15.67 $84,838
12 Glencoe 15.67 $63,060
13 Homewood 16.0 $89,433
14 Chelsea 19.33 $93,658
15 Clay 19.33 $74,265
16 Margaret 20.0 $64,992
17 Daphne 20.33 $74,701
18 Southside 21.67 $66,692
19 Leeds 22.0 $62,432
20 Hoover 22.67 $95,970
21 Alabaster 23.67 $83,181
22 Muscle Shoals 24.0 $61,772
23 Prattville 25.67 $65,932
24 Robertsdale 26.33 $55,707
25 Pleasant Grove 26.67 $67,000
26 Cullman 27.33 $54,669
27 Fultondale 29.33 $72,766
28 Hartselle 30.33 $61,557
29 Satsuma 31.33 $88,312
30 Fairhope 32.0 $83,258
31 Millbrook 32.0 $59,084
32 Gulf Shores 34.33 $53,048
33 Valley 35.0 $51,476
34 Foley 38.0 $53,817
35 Saraland 39.0 $61,216
36 Pinson 39.33 $70,393
37 Oxford 39.67 $62,226
38 Northport 41.0 $69,921
39 Moody 41.33 $69,846
40 Arab 41.67 $50,321
41 Enterprise 45.67 $63,859
42 Athens 45.67 $52,211
43 Attalla 46.0 $46,278
44 Huntsville 46.0 $60,959
45 Lincoln 49.0 $63,464
46 Rainsville 49.67 $49,375
47 Jasper 49.67 $55,721
48 Auburn 50.67 $54,700
49 Opelika 53.0 $51,074
50 Hueytown 53.0 $58,151
51 Guntersville 53.0 $53,750
52 Smiths Station 53.33 $53,096
53 Pell City 54.0 $58,036
54 Decatur 54.0 $52,539
55 Russellville 54.33 $43,829
56 Irondale 55.67 $63,010
57 Demopolis 56.0 $40,968
58 Albertville 56.33 $51,718
59 Rainbow City 56.33 $51,765
60 Clanton 56.67 $48,051
61 Wetumpka 56.67 $49,146
62 Lanett 58.0 $46,404
63 Tuscumbia 58.33 $42,692
64 Scottsboro 59.0 $43,672
65 Boaz 59.33 $40,732
66 Dothan 60.33 $49,203
67 Hamilton 62.33 $42,722
68 Alexander City 65.33 $41,778
69 Montevallo 68.0 $43,504
70 Tallassee 68.67 $47,405
71 Mobile 69.67 $44,780
72 Brewton 69.67 $44,528
73 Montgomery 71.0 $49,989
74 Oneonta 71.0 $40,391
75 Florence 73.33 $40,944
76 Tuscaloosa 74.0 $44,880
77 Fairfield 74.0 $43,914
78 Roanoke 74.0 $38,731
79 Midfield 75.67 $46,929
80 Fort Payne 76.33 $44,330
81 Troy 77.33 $36,409
82 Chickasaw 77.33 $36,196
83 Center Point 77.67 $44,676
84 Opp 78.0 $40,372
85 Ozark 79.67 $44,014
86 Anniston 80.0 $39,928
87 Sheffield 82.0 $36,642
88 Andalusia 83.0 $40,516
89 Jacksonville 83.0 $41,920
90 Greenville 83.33 $39,959
91 Phenix City 84.67 $43,296
92 Birmingham 87.33 $39,403
93 Sylacauga 87.33 $41,864
94 Tarrant 88.67 $36,927
95 Monroeville 93.0 $28,718
96 Eufaula 94.33 $35,127
97 Bay Minette 94.67 $35,851
98 Gadsden 95.0 $35,776
99 Atmore 97.67 $29,104
100 Prichard 98.0 $32,900

How Is The Area In ?

Editor’s Note: Data has been updated for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the richest cities in Alabama.

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.