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 41 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 ten places are a little too far downwind of Birmingham in terms of quality of life.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 worst suburbs around Birmingham for 2023
- Adamsville
- Warrior
- Bessemer
- Brighton
- Tarrant
- Lipscomb
- Graysville
- Dora
- Wilsonville
- Midfield
Now don’t freak out.
What’s the worst suburb of Birmingham? Adamsville ranks as the worst suburb of Birmingham for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.
Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in Alabama check out the best places in Alabama overall or the worst.
And remember, there are some good places to live around Birmingham too.
The 10 Worst Birmingham Suburbs To Live For 2023
/10
Population: 4,381
Median Income: $46,150 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.5% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $107,100 (10th lowest)
More on Adamsville: Data
We’ll get the ball rolling with Adamsville, the absolute worst place to live around Birmingham according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Adamsville beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 10th worst in the Birmingham area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 10th 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 Adamsville.
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.
/10
Welcome to Warrior. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 19.9 miles to Birmingham. Income levels here are the 7th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $44,075 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.
/10
Population: 26,171
Median Income: $32,416 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 12.8% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $102,200 (8th lowest)
More on Bessemer: Data | Cost Of Living
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Birmingham suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Bessemer 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.
4. Brighton
/10
Population: 2,904
Median Income: $28,125 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 13.8% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $58,400 (lowest)
More on Brighton:
If you live in Brighton, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the lowest Birmingham suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 2nd worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Birmingham. Remember, we looked at 41 cities for this study.
Brighton is about 10.4 miles to downtown.
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Population: 6,137
Median Income: $36,927 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.6% (12th highest)
Median Home Value: $92,300 (5th lowest)
More on Tarrant: Data | Cost Of Living
Tarrant has the distinction of being a Birmingham suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Tarrant has the 5th lowest home values in the metro Birmingham area, where the median price is $92,300. The median income is $150,268.
Tarrant has an unemployment rate of 8.63% which ranks 12th worst.
6. Lipscomb
/10
Population: 2,113
Median Income: $41,161 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.0% (13th highest)
Median Home Value: $76,700 (3rd lowest)
More on Lipscomb:
Lipscomb has 2,113 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 27.285782671134516%.
7. Graysville
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Population: 2,723
Median Income: $50,216 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.9% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $97,100 (6th lowest)
More on Graysville:
Ah, Graysville. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Birmingham.
It’s the place with the 6th most out of work residents in the Birmingham metro area (10.95%).
8. Dora
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Population: 2,725
Median Income: $52,592 (14th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.7% (11th highest)
Median Home Value: $127,100 (12th lowest)
More on Dora:
Dora is a city about 21.5 miles from Birmingham, but Birmingham probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Dora has the 6th most uninsured people, 14th worst incomes, and has the 11th highest unemployment rate (8.68%) in the entire Birmingham metro area.
Homes only cost $127,100 for a reason. That’s cheap for Birmingham standards.
9. Wilsonville
/10
Population: 2,167
Median Income: $61,111 (18th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 14.9% (highest)
Median Home Value: $182,400 (26th lowest)
More on Wilsonville:
If you absolutely have to live near Birmingham, then Wilsonville might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Birmingham suburb.
About 14.9% of residents are out of work.
10. Midfield
/10
Population: 5,219
Median Income: $46,929 (11th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.6% (8th highest)
Median Home Value: $73,800 (2nd lowest)
More on Midfield:
Rounding out the ten worst Birmingham suburbs to call home is Midfield.
Located 8.7 miles outside the city, Midfields is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 8th highest unemployment rate (9.62%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Birmingham for 2023
To figure out how bad a Birmingham suburb is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
It’s Saturday Night Science.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2017-2021, 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 41 suburbs to evaluate around Birmingham.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 41 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, Adamsville.
We updated this article for 2023, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Birmingham.
Summary: The areas around Birmingham where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2023
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Birmingham with Adamsville casting itself ahead of the pack.
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.
- Mountain Brook
- Vestavia Hills
- Kimberly
For more Alabama reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Alabama
- Cheapest Places To Live In Alabama
- Most Dangerous Cities In Alabama
- Best Places To Retire In Alabama
- Richest Cities In Alabama
- Safest Places In Alabama
- Worst Places To Live In Alabama
Detailed List Of The Worst Birmingham Suburbs
Rank | City | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Adamsville | 4,381 | $46,150 | $107,100 |
2 | Warrior | 3,211 | $44,075 | $141,100 |
3 | Bessemer | 26,171 | $32,416 | $102,200 |
4 | Brighton | 2,904 | $28,125 | $58,400 |
5 | Tarrant | 6,137 | $36,927 | $92,300 |
6 | Lipscomb | 2,113 | $41,161 | $76,700 |
7 | Graysville | 2,723 | $50,216 | $97,100 |
8 | Dora | 2,725 | $52,592 | $127,100 |
9 | Wilsonville | 2,167 | $61,111 | $182,400 |
10 | Midfield | 5,219 | $46,929 | $73,800 |
11 | Sumiton | 2,676 | $58,578 | $128,300 |
12 | Columbiana | 4,197 | $50,357 | $158,300 |
13 | Hueytown | 16,694 | $58,151 | $118,800 |
14 | Center Point | 16,422 | $44,676 | $105,400 |
15 | Montevallo | 6,968 | $43,504 | $163,100 |
16 | Fairfield | 10,108 | $43,914 | $101,000 |
17 | Irondale | 13,457 | $63,010 | $169,400 |
18 | Mount Olive | 2,139 | $44,201 | $79,300 |
19 | Fultondale | 9,707 | $72,766 | $157,900 |
20 | Leeds | 12,385 | $62,432 | $169,900 |
21 | Moody | 13,100 | $69,846 | $177,500 |
22 | Pinson | 7,242 | $70,393 | $150,800 |
23 | Margaret | 5,118 | $64,992 | $162,700 |
24 | Argo | 4,411 | $80,733 | $186,900 |
25 | Pleasant Grove | 9,638 | $67,000 | $160,600 |
26 | Alabaster | 33,133 | $83,181 | $189,600 |
27 | Calera | 16,126 | $70,504 | $161,900 |
28 | Clay | 10,320 | $74,265 | $165,000 |
29 | Gardendale | 15,920 | $74,608 | $190,400 |
30 | Springville | 4,747 | $56,106 | $204,700 |
31 | Morris | 2,248 | $84,375 | $192,400 |
32 | Pelham | 24,134 | $81,606 | $215,700 |
33 | Chelsea | 14,710 | $93,658 | $256,700 |
34 | Helena | 20,680 | $96,173 | $227,800 |
35 | Hoover | 91,371 | $95,970 | $316,700 |
36 | Lake View | 3,357 | $84,456 | $220,600 |
37 | Trussville | 25,027 | $108,070 | $287,700 |
38 | Homewood | 26,206 | $89,433 | $391,500 |
39 | Kimberly | 3,792 | $98,882 | $224,200 |
40 | Vestavia Hills | 38,504 | $118,539 | $402,100 |
41 | Mountain Brook | 22,184 | $150,268 | $697,800 |