More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Birmingham to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Birmingham are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Birmingham ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Birmingham area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Birmingham proper, although Mountain Brook certainly tries.
We examined the 37 biggest suburbs of Birmingham to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Alabama lists, these places are a little too far downwind of Birmingham in terms of quality of life.
$38,221 median income · $44,161 median home price
We’ll get the ball rolling with Brighton, the absolute worst place to live around Birmingham according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Brighton beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the worst in the Birmingham area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks worst when it comes to home values.
But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Brighton.
You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.
$39,613 median income · $133,911 median home price
Located in
Jefferson County, Alabama
Welcome to Bessemer. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 14.7 miles to Birmingham. Income levels here are the 2nd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $39,613 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.
But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$42,070 median income · $77,451 median home price
Located in
Jefferson County, Alabama
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Birmingham suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Tarrant on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.
In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other Birmingham suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$41,875 median income · $63,702 median home price
If you live in Lipscomb, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 3rd lowest Birmingham suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 17th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Birmingham. Remember, we looked at 37 cities for this study.
Lipscomb is about 10.1 miles to downtown.
$52,813 median income · $260,534 median home price
Vincent has the distinction of being a Birmingham suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Vincent has the 22nd lowest home values in the metro Birmingham area, where the median price is $260,534. The median income is $201,479.
Vincent has an unemployment rate of 10.5% which ranks 2nd worst.
$57,557 median income · $235,636 median home price
Warrior has 3,207 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)
Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 18.3%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$61,892 median income · $171,543 median home price
Ah, Dora. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Birmingham.
It’s the place with the 29th most out of work residents in the Birmingham metro area (2.3%).
$70,208 median income · $108,663 median home price
Graysville is a city about 13.2 miles from Birmingham, but Birmingham probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Graysville has the 15th most uninsured people, 16th worst incomes, and has the 11th highest unemployment rate (7.1%) in the entire Birmingham metro area.
Homes only cost $108,663 for a reason. That’s cheap for Birmingham standards.
$52,755 median income · $82,421 median home price
If you absolutely have to live near Birmingham, then Midfield might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Birmingham suburb.
About 7.2% of residents are out of work.
Data | Movers
$62,784 median income · $163,400 median home price
Located in
Jefferson County, Alabama
Rounding out the ten worst Birmingham suburbs to call home is Hueytown.
Located 15.0 miles outside the city, Hueytown is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 3rd highest unemployment rate (8.6%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
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 the worst Birmingham suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Birmingham for 2026
To figure out how bad a Birmingham suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2020-2024, this is the criteria we used:
- High unemployment rate
- Low median household incomes
- Low population density (no things to do)
- Low home values
- A lot of high school dropouts
- High poverty
- High rate of uninsured families
We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of Birmingham.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 37 suburbs to evaluate around Birmingham.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 37 in each category, where 1 was the worst.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index, the “Worst Suburb near Birmingham.” We’re looking at you, Brighton.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Birmingham.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Birmingham Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brighton | 6.14 | 3,079 | $38,221 | $44,161 |
| 2 | Bessemer | 7.29 | 25,400 | $39,613 | $133,911 |
| 3 | Tarrant | 7.36 | 5,925 | $42,070 | $77,451 |
| 4 | Lipscomb | 8.36 | 2,214 | $41,875 | $63,702 |
| 5 | Vincent | 8.57 | 2,050 | $52,813 | $260,534 |
| 6 | Warrior | 11.00 | 3,207 | $57,557 | $235,636 |
| 7 | Dora | 11.14 | 2,668 | $61,892 | $171,543 |
| 8 | Graysville | 11.79 | 2,509 | $70,208 | $108,663 |
| 9 | Midfield | 11.93 | 5,045 | $52,755 | $82,421 |
| 10 | Hueytown | 12.43 | 16,414 | $62,784 | $163,400 |
| 11 | Sumiton | 12.93 | 2,459 | $65,568 | $146,108 |
| 12 | Adamsville | 13.07 | 4,266 | $62,500 | $140,290 |
| 13 | Montevallo | 13.36 | 7,556 | $56,626 | $248,376 |
| 14 | Center Point | 14.36 | 15,914 | $56,417 | $152,329 |
| 15 | Leeds | 14.93 | 12,028 | $69,737 | $249,223 |
| 16 | Fairfield | 15.71 | 9,728 | $48,456 | $93,495 |
| 17 | Irondale | 16.29 | 13,464 | $72,343 | $289,627 |
| 18 | Columbiana | 16.43 | 4,725 | $80,546 | $305,059 |
| 19 | Pinson | 17.07 | 7,832 | $76,410 | $216,703 |
| 20 | Clay | 20.57 | 10,273 | $81,920 | $250,060 |
| 21 | Fultondale | 20.71 | 9,384 | $73,575 | $228,868 |
| 22 | Moody | 21.07 | 13,488 | $86,627 | $259,875 |
| 23 | Calera | 21.14 | 17,714 | $87,194 | $254,701 |
| 24 | Gardendale | 22.21 | 16,534 | $82,192 | $266,523 |
| 25 | Pleasant Grove | 22.57 | 9,442 | $70,317 | $225,144 |
| 26 | Springville | 23.21 | 5,081 | $84,231 | $321,266 |
| 27 | Alabaster | 24.07 | 33,917 | $91,357 | $303,750 |
| 28 | Westover | 24.36 | 2,298 | $96,932 | $296,254 |
| 29 | Pelham | 26.64 | 24,827 | $101,094 | $323,686 |
| 30 | Kimberly | 27.92 | 4,439 | $97,429 | $306,419 |
| 31 | Chelsea | 28.79 | 16,260 | $115,337 | $384,778 |
| 32 | Hoover | 29.36 | 92,642 | $109,253 | $437,228 |
| 33 | Homewood | 29.50 | 27,829 | $94,485 | $558,046 |
| 34 | Vestavia Hills | 30.86 | 38,616 | $134,369 | $561,213 |
| 35 | Helena | 31.36 | 21,769 | $115,139 | $363,042 |
| 36 | Trussville | 32.07 | 26,673 | $123,275 | $394,833 |
| 37 | Mountain Brook | 35.14 | 22,029 | $201,479 | $1,028,341 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 37 suburbs within 30 miles of Birmingham.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Birmingham where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Birmingham with Brighton casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Birmingham are Brighton, Bessemer, Tarrant, Lipscomb, Vincent, Warrior, Dora, Graysville, Midfield, and Hueytown.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Birmingham aren’t all bad. Mountain Brook takes the cake as the best place to live around Birmingham. Not sold on Alabama? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Suburbs Of Birmingham FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Birmingham?
Brighton ranks as the worst suburb around Birmingham for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Bessemer and Tarrant are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Birmingham?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Birmingham are Brighton, Bessemer, Tarrant, Lipscomb, Vincent, Warrior, Dora, Graysville, Midfield, and Hueytown. We scored all 37 places within 30 miles.
Why does Brighton rank as the worst suburb?
Brighton posts the roughest combined numbers of the 37 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $38,221, a median home value of $44,161, and a poverty rate of 34.2%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near Birmingham?
Mountain Brook lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Birmingham by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Birmingham list covers that side properly.
How do you rank the worst suburbs?
Suburbs are scored on unemployment, income, density, home values, dropouts, poverty, and insurance coverage, using Census American Community Survey data. Real numbers, light heart — every one of these towns has people making it work.
