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Towns / Alabama

Albertville, Alabama

Albertville is a small town of about 24,000 people in Marshall County, Alabama. It has grown about 6% since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.4 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Birmingham, is about 61 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
23,710
up 5.8% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$188,400
Marshall County prices up 18% since 2022
Household income
$56,099
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Alabama
83.2
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
4 miles
Boaz, AL
To Birmingham
61 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 16.8% below the U.S. average in the parts of Alabama outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood54 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 13.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town8 public schools: 4 elementary, 2 middle and 2 high schools.
  • A hospital close byMarshall Medical Centers in Boaz, about 4 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBirmingham is about 61 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Albertville meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$188,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 18%Marshall County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$872 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$56,099U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
70%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$690 a yearAlabama: $788
Homes built before 1940
3%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
83.2U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Alabama outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 18% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Alabama outside metro areas, not Albertville alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
23,7102020: 22,407
Median age
34.7 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
15%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
30%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
21%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
5%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (22%); manufacturing (21%); retail (14%)
Unemployment rate
6%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
20 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
3%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
18%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Marshall Medical Centers, Boaz, AL, about 4 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

8 public schools in Albertville, run by Albertville City and Marshall County.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Alabama's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
78%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
94%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
32°F
July average high
89°F
Days 90°F or hotter
49 a year
Nights at or below freezing
44 a year
Rain and melted snow
56.8 inches a year
Snow
1 inches a year
Elevation
1,025 feet

Weather stations: Guntersville No.2 (8 miles away) and Boaz (5 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Marshall Medical Centers, Huntsville, Birmingham.

Marshall County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Little River Canyon National Preserve29 miles
  • Freedom Riders National Monument47 miles
  • Russell Cave National Monument53 miles

Read about Albertville's history on Wikipedia.

Know Albertville?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • New Union, AL (unincorporated)996 people, 9 miles
  • Douglas, AL796 people, 9 miles
  • Bristow Cove, AL (unincorporated)144 people, 11 miles
  • Whitesboro, AL (unincorporated)1,918 people, 11 miles
  • Carlisle-Rockledge, AL (unincorporated)1,993 people, 11 miles
  • Egypt, AL (unincorporated)616 people, 13 miles
  • Geraldine, AL918 people, 14 miles
  • Walnut Grove, AL788 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.