Do we think there's a direct correlation between educated residents, jobs, competitive salaries, and people flocking to the safest places in Alabama to live the Alabama dream? Absolutely.
Whether you're hanging out on a beach in Mobile, catching a NASCAR race in Talladega, or visiting the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, Alabama knows how to keep its residents safe.
And here at HomeSnacks, we wanted to know how safe the safest cities in The Heart of Dixie are. So, we consulted the numbers and analyzed 90 cities with over 5,000 residents. We looked at important factors like property crimes and violent crimes per capita for every place from Dothan to Decatur.
There's a reason Alabama notables like Channing Tatum, Mia Hamm, and Evander Holyfield have been singing the praises of places like Cullman, Selma, and Atmore for years. These are not only some of the best places in the country, they are some of Alabama's safest.
So, where are these unique places in Alabama where crime is low, jobs are plentiful, and neighborhoods are safe? Read on.
So, what city is the safest place to live in Alabama for 2024? According to the most recent FBI data, the safest place to live in Alabama is Tuscumbia.
Check out the rest of our very safe Alabama cities to see how your city ranked. And if you don't find your favorite there, head to the bottom.
For more reading on safe places to live in and around Alabama, check out:
Population: 9,081
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 0 (safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 308 (third safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Tuscumbia: Data | Crime | Real Estate
Tuscumbia, a historic city in Colbert County, Alabama, and the birthplace of Helen Keller is the safest city in the state as of 2024. With a population of 9,081, Tuscumbia reported 0 violent crimes - murder, rape, robbery, or aggravated assault in that period.
Additionally, the city's property crime rate is significantly low, ranking third safest statewide with just 28 reported incidents. These statistics contribute to Tuscumbia's low total crime per capita of 308/100k people, reinforcing its status as a secure location within Alabama.
Population: 6,621
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 15 (second safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 377 (fourth safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Hamilton: Data | Crime | Real Estate
Located in Marion County, Hamilton stands out as Alabama's second safest city for 2024 thanks to its low violent crime rate of 15/100k people incidents per 1,000 inhabitants and a property crime rate of only 377/100k people per 1,000 residents. Emphasizing a proactive approach from law enforcement along with strong community engagement helps maintain 1 total occurrences of murder, rape, and robbery among its population.
Hamilton's advantageous positioning near the serene Buttahatchee River complements the peaceful life that its vigilant community enjoys. It's clear why Hamilton is revered as one of Alabama's most secure locations.
Population: 9,524
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 41 (sixth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 230 (second safest)
Murders: 1
Murders Per 100k: 10
More on Southside: Data | Crime | Real Estate
Southside shows it's the best side when it comes to safety in Alabama -- it's the third safest city in Alabama.
Located 8 to 12 miles south of downtown Gadsden, Southside is one of the fastest growing cities in northeast Alabama. Which makes sense given that it ranks as the safest place in the region buy a good bit.
The other reason people are flocking here? Low rent and home prices mixed with a good economy. With a sub 3% unemployment, you can get a job and find an affordable apartment for only $750/mo.
Population: 5,685
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 70 (ninth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 228 (safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Rainsville: Data | Crime | Real Estate
Rainsville, perched atop Sand Mountain in DeKalb County, Alabama, is recognized for its exceptional safety, with low crime figures like 4 violent crime, 0 murders, and 13 property crimes. The city's per capita crime rates, denoted as 70/100k people violent crime per capita and 228/100k people property crime per capita, support its position as the fourth safest city statewide.
Since its incorporation in 1956, Rainsville has shown resilience, notably overcoming the 2011 EF5 tornado. Such fortitude is mirrored in its crime standings: ranking ninth safest in violent crime and an impressive safest in property crime in Alabama, underscoring its commitment to maintaining a secure community.
Population: 21,910
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 27 (third safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 940 (tenth safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Mountain Brook: Data | Crime | Real Estate
A suburb of Birmingham, Mountain Brook has plenty of activities to keep its residents from a life of crime -- from playing 18 holes at Alabama's oldest golf course to seeing some epic animals at the Birmingham Zoo.
These diversions really do the trick for Mountain Brook, which has the third safest lowest rate of violent crime and tenth safest lowest rate of property crime in Alabama.
As Josh Vernon of Keller Williams told us, "this affluent community takes pride in the upkeep of their beautiful surroundings while providing opportunities that create a family-friendly environment. Mountain Brook is one of the hidden gems in the Birmingham Metro."
Population: 6,811
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 58 (eighth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 440 (fifth safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Satsuma: Data | Crime | Real Estate
The sixth safest place in Alabama for 2024? According to the most recent FBI data, that would be Satsuma. A city in Mobile County of about 6,000 people located in the Southern nub of Alabama, this place continuously rocks out in our rankings.
Not only is it safe, it's one of the best places to live in Heart Of Dixie.
Now, if only someone would take a creative commons licensed picture for us to use. Wink wink.
Population: 5,685
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 52 (seventh safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 545 (seventh safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Margaret: Data | Crime | Real Estate
Margaret found within St. Clair County, stands out as the seventh safest place to live in the state for 2024. The city's crime rates are notably low, with 3 incidents of 0, 0, or 0 reported. In addition, the 31 instances of property_crime are significantly lower than state averages, reflecting a secure place to live for its 5,685 residents.
Originally a company town for the Alabama Fuel and Iron Company, Margaret was established in 1908 and has evolved into a city that prides itself on community safety. With a total crime per capita rate that firmly positions Margaret at the seventh safest spot statewide, Margaret is one of Alabama's most secure locales.
Population: 5,320
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 37 (fifth safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 958 (11th safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Headland: Data | Crime | Real Estate
Founded in 1871 by James Joshua Head, the city of Headland in Alabama, Henry County, is not only steeped in history but also ranks as the eighth safest place within the state. Its 5,320 residents enjoy a low incidence of major crimes like murder, rape, and robbery, with only minor occurrences of property_crime.
The city's law enforcement demonstrates effectiveness with Headland achieving the fifth safest position for violent crime and the 11th safest for property crime. This has also led to its commendable statewide total crime rank at 11th safest.
Population: 5,406
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 73 (12th safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 462 (sixth safest)
Murders: 0
Murders Per 100k: 0
More on Glencoe: Data | Crime | Real Estate
Glencoe maintained its place in the top ten for the second year in a row.
Interestingly, compared to the other cities on this list, the overall picture of Glencoe isn't quite as glowing. The economy isn't quite as strong and poverty is tick higher, but it's still a safe place to live.
And, wouldn't you know, it's the home to not one, but two Miss Alabama's.
So it's both attractive and safe -- sounding better and better each second.
Population: 38,515
Violent Crimes Per 100k: 77 (13th safest)
Property Crimes Per 100k: 729 (ninth safest)
Murders: 3
Murders Per 100k: 7
More on Vestavia Hills: Data | Crime | Real Estate
Vestavia Hills is so safe that everyone there is hyper vigilant. For example, when we called the city one of the snobbiest in the state a couple of years back, we had a local lawyer promptly fedex us a demand to take down a Google Street View that showed his house.
Because you can't even have internet hooligans like us say anything even potentially negative about this town.
That hypervigilance translates into the 13th safest violent crime and the ninth safest ranking for property crime in Alabama.
Hopefully this fact doesn't compel someone else to throw a lawsuit at us.
While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in Alabama are the safest, we wanted to rely on something other than speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from the FBI's most recent crime report in Alabama.
Specifically, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, which summarizes the number of property and violent crimes in each city annually. We used two criteria:
For example, there were 28 crimes committed in Tuscumbia, with a reported population of 9,081. That means the number of crimes per capita is 0.0031, which translates into a 1 in 324 chance of being the victim of a crime.
We only looked at Alabama cities that have populations of more than 5,000. This filter left us with 90 of the biggest cities in Alabama to rank.
We ranked each city for each criterion from 1 to 90 where 1 in any particular category is the safest.
Next, we averaged each place's two criteria to create a Safety Index. We crowned the place with the lowest overall Safety Score, "The Safest Place In Alabama," with any ties going to the bigger city.
The safest city in Alabama, based on our criteria, is Tuscumbia. The most dangerous city in Alabama? Bessemer, where residents had a 1 in 10 chance of being the victim of a crime.
This article has been update for 2024. This report marks our tenth time ranking the safest places to live in Alabama. All the data comes from the FBI's Crime In The USA 2022 report.
Looking at the data, you can tell that Tuscumbia is as safe as they come in Alabama, according to science and data.
But as most Alabama residents would agree, almost every place here has its safe and not safe parts. So just make sure you're informed ahead of time.
The safest places in Alabama are .
Here's a look at the most dangerous cities in Alabama according to the data:
Rank | City | Population | Violent Crimes Per 100k | Property Crimes Per 100k | Murders Per 100k | Murders |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tuscumbia, AL | 9,081 | 0 | 308 | 0 | 0 |
2 | Hamilton, AL | 6,621 | 15 | 377 | 0 | 0 |
3 | Southside, AL | 9,524 | 41 | 230 | 10 | 1 |
4 | Rainsville, AL | 5,685 | 70 | 228 | 0 | 0 |
5 | Mountain Brook, AL | 21,910 | 27 | 940 | 0 | 0 |
6 | Satsuma, AL | 6,811 | 58 | 440 | 0 | 0 |
7 | Margaret, AL | 5,685 | 52 | 545 | 0 | 0 |
8 | Headland, AL | 5,320 | 37 | 958 | 0 | 0 |
9 | Glencoe, AL | 5,406 | 73 | 462 | 0 | 0 |
10 | Vestavia Hills, AL | 38,515 | 77 | 729 | 7 | 3 |
11 | Helena, AL | 22,035 | 95 | 558 | 9 | 2 |
12 | Montevallo, AL | 7,517 | 93 | 971 | 0 | 0 |
13 | Daphne, AL | 29,871 | 73 | 1,221 | 3 | 1 |
14 | Homewood, AL | 25,788 | 73 | 1,322 | 0 | 0 |
15 | Spanish Fort, AL | 10,689 | 37 | 1,730 | 0 | 0 |
16 | Rainbow City, AL | 10,150 | 108 | 1,152 | 0 | 0 |
17 | Auburn, AL | 80,759 | 131 | 1,160 | 3 | 3 |
18 | Pelham, AL | 24,920 | 132 | 1,320 | 0 | 0 |
19 | Moody, AL | 13,862 | 165 | 1,009 | 14 | 2 |
20 | Hoover, AL | 92,491 | 97 | 1,560 | 2 | 2 |
21 | Hartselle, AL | 15,626 | 191 | 1,030 | 12 | 2 |
22 | Pleasant Grove, AL | 9,454 | 232 | 983 | 0 | 0 |
23 | Springville, AL | 5,048 | 237 | 970 | 0 | 0 |
24 | Odenville, AL | 5,026 | 218 | 1,153 | 0 | 0 |
25 | Alabaster, AL | 33,974 | 97 | 2,095 | 0 | 0 |
26 | Fairhope, AL | 23,747 | 181 | 1,532 | 4 | 1 |
27 | Fort Payne, AL | 14,845 | 148 | 1,785 | 0 | 0 |
28 | Saraland, AL | 16,459 | 139 | 1,938 | 0 | 0 |
29 | Huntsville, AL | 218,897 | 298 | 1,506 | 0 | 0 |
30 | Foley, AL | 23,629 | 160 | 2,344 | 8 | 2 |
31 | Russellville, AL | 10,768 | 241 | 2,089 | 9 | 1 |
32 | Northport, AL | 30,901 | 355 | 1,643 | 0 | 0 |
33 | Leeds, AL | 12,206 | 327 | 1,892 | 8 | 1 |
34 | Midfield, AL | 5,036 | 496 | 1,111 | 19 | 1 |
35 | Trussville, AL | 26,561 | 154 | 2,605 | 15 | 4 |
36 | Prattville, AL | 38,679 | 274 | 2,313 | 12 | 5 |
37 | Millbrook, AL | 17,567 | 182 | 2,442 | 5 | 1 |
38 | Pell City, AL | 13,607 | 293 | 2,300 | 7 | 1 |
39 | Fultondale, AL | 9,699 | 154 | 2,794 | 0 | 0 |
40 | Chickasaw, AL | 6,333 | 426 | 1,863 | 31 | 2 |
41 | Athens, AL | 28,438 | 207 | 2,690 | 3 | 1 |
42 | Gardendale, AL | 16,861 | 361 | 2,170 | 0 | 0 |
43 | Bay Minette, AL | 8,000 | 512 | 1,612 | 0 | 0 |
44 | Cullman, AL | 19,065 | 125 | 3,587 | 0 | 0 |
45 | Gulf Shores, AL | 16,274 | 331 | 2,421 | 6 | 1 |
46 | Irondale, AL | 13,528 | 280 | 2,542 | 0 | 0 |
47 | Orange Beach, AL | 8,530 | 375 | 2,415 | 0 | 0 |
48 | Wetumpka, AL | 7,317 | 164 | 3,403 | 13 | 1 |
49 | Opp, AL | 6,641 | 466 | 2,108 | 0 | 0 |
50 | Oxford, AL | 22,318 | 232 | 2,912 | 0 | 0 |
51 | Muscle Shoals, AL | 16,917 | 360 | 2,441 | 0 | 0 |
52 | Lincoln, AL | 7,256 | 468 | 2,260 | 0 | 0 |
53 | Selma, AL | 17,296 | 768 | 1,618 | 40 | 7 |
54 | Troy, AL | 17,639 | 413 | 2,511 | 0 | 0 |
55 | Decatur, AL | 57,831 | 418 | 2,595 | 20 | 12 |
56 | Guntersville, AL | 8,858 | 327 | 3,104 | 11 | 1 |
57 | Tuskegee, AL | 8,600 | 953 | 1,511 | 93 | 8 |
58 | Eufaula, AL | 12,528 | 454 | 2,522 | 15 | 2 |
59 | Arab, AL | 8,550 | 327 | 3,391 | 0 | 0 |
60 | Prichard, AL | 18,936 | 829 | 2,107 | 15 | 3 |
61 | Oneonta, AL | 6,798 | 279 | 3,854 | 0 | 0 |
62 | Enterprise, AL | 29,936 | 574 | 2,435 | 3 | 1 |
63 | Jacksonville, AL | 13,025 | 921 | 1,996 | 0 | 0 |
64 | Talladega, AL | 15,448 | 647 | 2,440 | 19 | 3 |
65 | Lanett, AL | 6,716 | 506 | 2,695 | 0 | 0 |
66 | Hueytown, AL | 16,313 | 429 | 3,365 | 30 | 5 |
67 | Florence, AL | 40,063 | 581 | 2,645 | 2 | 1 |
68 | Monroeville, AL | 5,797 | 897 | 2,380 | 51 | 3 |
69 | Robertsdale, AL | 7,116 | 337 | 5,466 | 0 | 0 |
70 | Tuscaloosa, AL | 101,280 | 637 | 2,882 | 11 | 12 |
71 | Opelika, AL | 32,010 | 809 | 2,739 | 21 | 7 |
72 | Ozark, AL | 14,299 | 524 | 3,433 | 0 | 0 |
73 | Sylacauga, AL | 12,205 | 606 | 3,277 | 24 | 3 |
74 | Valley, AL | 10,475 | 515 | 3,665 | 38 | 4 |
75 | Jasper, AL | 14,312 | 419 | 4,730 | 6 | 1 |
76 | Andalusia, AL | 8,699 | 482 | 3,977 | 22 | 2 |
77 | Demopolis, AL | 6,885 | 726 | 3,253 | 14 | 1 |
78 | Attalla, AL | 5,840 | 376 | 7,876 | 34 | 2 |
79 | Brewton, AL | 5,251 | 876 | 2,818 | 0 | 0 |
80 | Gadsden, AL | 33,521 | 563 | 3,884 | 17 | 6 |
81 | Mobile, AL | 239,323 | 926 | 3,013 | 17 | 41 |
82 | Clanton, AL | 8,799 | 534 | 4,466 | 34 | 3 |
83 | Phenix City, AL | 38,076 | 877 | 3,697 | 26 | 10 |
84 | Alexander City, AL | 14,476 | 794 | 4,628 | 13 | 2 |
85 | Dothan, AL | 71,196 | 1,052 | 3,772 | 19 | 14 |
86 | Anniston, AL | 21,007 | 842 | 5,483 | 19 | 4 |
87 | Birmingham, AL | 195,050 | 1,681 | 4,172 | 72 | 142 |
88 | Atmore, AL | 8,536 | 1,487 | 4,276 | 0 | 0 |
89 | Tarrant, AL | 5,913 | 2,519 | 4,566 | 0 | 0 |
90 | Bessemer, AL | 25,265 | 1,820 | 7,409 | 39 | 10 |
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.
We founded HomeSnacks to provide insights your real estate agent would neglect to mention.
By presenting data from presentable sources and utlizing Saturday Night Science, we provide detailed insights into cities and neighborhoods.
Learn more about Nick and Chris.
HomeSnacks is based in Durham, NC.
We aim to deliver bite-sized pieces of infotainment about where you live.
We use data, analytics, and a sense of humor to determine quality of life for places across the nation.