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Towns / Alabama

Anniston, Alabama

Anniston is a small town of about 21,000 people in Calhoun County, Alabama. It's the county seat. It has lost about 3% of its people 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 58 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
20,930
down 2.7% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$158,800
Calhoun County prices up 18% since 2022
Household income
$46,668
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Anniston area
85.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center
To Birmingham
58 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 14.1% below the U.S. average in the Anniston-Oxford metro area.
  • 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 neighborhood153 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 7.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 36 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town13 public schools: 6 elementary, 2 middle and 5 high schools.
  • A hospital close byNortheast Alabama Regional Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBirmingham is about 58 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 Anniston 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
$158,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 18%Calhoun County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$799 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$46,668U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
58%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$678 a yearAlabama: $788
Homes built before 1940
14%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
85.9U.S. average = 100 (the Anniston-Oxford metro area)

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 Anniston-Oxford metro area, not Anniston 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
20,9302020: 21,504
Median age
42.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
22%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
21%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
20%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
Manufacturing (21%); schools, health care and social services (21%); retail (14%)
Unemployment rate
6%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
24 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
8%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
21%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center, Anniston, AL, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 1 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

13 public schools in Anniston, run by Calhoun County and Anniston City.

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
65%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
84%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
34°F
July average high
90°F
Days 90°F or hotter
60 a year
Nights at or below freezing
52 a year
Rain and melted snow
57.4 inches a year
Snow
1 inches a year
Elevation
1,002 feet

Weather stations: Anniston Metro Ap (6 miles away) and Heflin (12 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: Birmingham.

Calhoun County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

49 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Downtown Anniston Historic District, Downtown Anniston Historic District (Additional Documentation), Downtown Anniston Historic District (Boundary Increase II/Decrease) and Downtown Anniston Historic District (Boundary Increase).

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Freedom Riders National Monument6 miles
  • Little River Canyon National Preserve42 miles
  • Horseshoe Bend National Military Park47 miles
  • Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument59 miles

Read about Anniston's history on Wikipedia.

Know Anniston?

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

  • Hobson City, AL742 people, 4 miles
  • White Plains, AL (unincorporated)919 people, 9 miles
  • Hollis Crossroads, AL (unincorporated)785 people, 13 miles
  • Nances Creek, AL (unincorporated)330 people, 15 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.