Alabama’s 25 best cities for young families

Personal finance and economics website NerdWallet published a list of the best cities in Alabama for young families, and you might just be surprised by the top 10.

While most such rankings tend to focus on larger cities, NerdWallet measured Alabama’s 96 cities with 5,000 or more residents.

The website measured school rankings, median household income, family income growth for the last 15 years, median home value, and percent of families with at least one child under age 18 to determine each city’s “young families score.”

NerdWalet noticed several trends among Alabama’s most family friendly communities, particularly the level of homeownership—it’s higher in Alabama than in most of the country—and the wide range of choices from large to small, urban to rural, that young families in Alabama have.

Here are the top 10:

1. Southside

“Rich in Hospitality and Genuine Southern Character” is the motto of Southside, and this picturesque riverside town lives up to its billing. Southside has the highest proportion, a third, of family households with children in the top 10, and the Etowah County school system recently ranked third in the state for academic performance. Active families will enjoy the nearby Noccalula Falls Park, which offers hiking trails with views of the park’s 90-foot waterfall.

2. Meridianville

Huntsville is sometimes called the “Silicon Valley of the South,” so Madison County, where most of it is located and the home of Meridianville, has been a destination for money and jobs for decades. Top employers include the Army’s Redstone Arsenal, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Boeing Co., Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. Yet even with an economy full of high-paying engineering jobs, Meridianville has remained affordable: most families will pay about 16% of their monthly income for selected homeowner costs, the lowest rate in the top 10.

3. Madison

If you want your child to grow up to be a rocket scientist, there may be no better place in America than Madison. The town is next to the Redstone Arsenal, which was the birthplace of NASA and now is the home to the Army’s Aviation and Missile Command, the Missile Defense Agency and the Marshall Space Flight Center. Madison has been the beneficiary of the accompanying pool of talent — income growth has been strong in recent years, jumping 76% since 1999. Schools are also excellent as demonstrated by the GreatSchools rating of 9 out of 10, which is tied for the highest mark in the state.

4. Trussville

Trussville is so much like Mayberry, the fictional North Carolina town from “The Andy Griffith Show,” that residents have adopted it as a nickname for their town. It’s a fair comparison: Trussville’s schools earned a strong ranking at GreatSchools, and more than 3 in 10 family households include children. The city is in the planning stages of a downtown redevelopment, which will bring mixed-use properties to the area, ultimately centralizing the town’s economic and cultural offerings.

5. Pelham

For those who seek a fitness challenge, Pelham may be the best city on our list for active and athletic young families who want to push themselves. Oak Mountain State Park is the home of the Southeast Xterra Challenge and the USA Triathlon Off-Road National Championship. Athletic pursuits aside, residents enjoy a combination of affordability and good schools, which received a strong ranking at GreatSchools, and a median home value of $164,800, which is below the top 10 average of $170,410.

6. Hartselle

Hartselle was originally settled in 1870 as a stop along the South and North Alabama Railroad, but the town was moved a half mile to a flat site more suitable for a rail depot. Since then, the town has continued to grow and adapt. Morgan County, where Hartselle is located, has an unemployment rate of 5.3%, according to recent data, which is lower than the statewide rate of 6.0%.

7. Auburn

A handful of times a year, the town of Auburn turns into the most important place in the state of Alabama, though Crimson Tide fans may disagree. On football weekends at Auburn University, the city’s population doubles from 55,404. Auburn, however, isn’t all “War Eagle” chants. With median family income growth of over 350% since 1999, by far the largest gain in the state, Auburn is becoming much more than a college town.

8. Muscle Shoals

Though Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan have all recorded some of their most important work in Muscle Shoals, young families seem to have forgotten about the city. Families with children make up 21% of households, which is down from 30% in 2000. Young families may once again fall in love with Muscle Shoals: It has the lowest median home value in the top 10 at $128,700, and a GreatSchools rating of nine.

9. Calera

Young kids love Calera because Thomas the Tank Engine makes a yearly appearance at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum. Parents love Calera because the town has done extremely well in recent years. Since 1999, median household incomes have jumped nearly 85%, and the population since 2000 has more than tripled, the highest growth rate in the entire state.

10. Prattville

If you were dropped in the middle of Prattville, you could easily be confused into thinking that you were in a classic New England town. This is an element of Prattville’s original design by founder Daniel Pratt, a New Hampshire native who established the first industry in Alabama. The town remains quite affordable for young families — the median home value of $149,900 is about 12% lower than the top 10 average.

Here are 11-25:
11. Alabaster
12. Harvest
13. Millbrook
14. Spanish Fort
15. Oxford
16. Arab
17. Hoover
18. Enterprise
19. Gardendale
20. Fort Payne
21. Boaz
22. Homewood
23. Oneonta
24. Vestavia Hills
25. Glencoe

Birmingham, Alabama’s largest city came in at #89, though several of its suburbs ranked significantly higher. Montgomery fared slightly better at 80, Mobile came in at #74, and Huntsville ranked the highest of the state’s larger cities at #60.

The entire list of the 96 Alabama cities NerdWallet ranked can be found on their website.

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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015