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Towns / Alabama

Crossville, Alabama

Crossville is a small town of about 1,900 people in DeKalb County, Alabama. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.6 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 69 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,851
up 1.2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$129,900
DeKalb County prices up 22% since 2022
Household income
$49,100
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Alabama
83.2
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
10 miles
Boaz, AL
To Birmingham
69 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 2.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Crossville itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byMarshall Medical Centers in Boaz, about 10 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBirmingham is about 69 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 Crossville 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
$129,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 22%DeKalb County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$49,100U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
65%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$567 a yearAlabama: $788
Homes built before 1940
4%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 22% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Alabama outside metro areas, not Crossville 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
1,8512020: 1,829
Median age
40.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
14%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
27%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
14%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%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 (42%); manufacturing (22%); retail (7%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
25 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
1%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: Marshall Medical Centers, Boaz, AL, about 10 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

3 public schools in Crossville, run by DeKalb 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
65%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
31°F
July average high
86°F
Days 90°F or hotter
26 a year
Nights at or below freezing
67 a year
Rain and melted snow
56.5 inches a year
Snow
1 inches a year
Elevation
1,114 feet

Weather stations: Gadsden 19 N (2 miles away) and Sand Mt Substn (2 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.

DeKalb County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Little River Canyon National Preserve17 miles
  • Freedom Riders National Monument45 miles
  • Russell Cave National Monument48 miles
  • Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park58 miles

Read about Crossville's history on Wikipedia.

Know Crossville?

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

  • Geraldine, AL918 people, 5 miles
  • Lakeview, AL167 people, 8 miles
  • Whitesboro, AL (unincorporated)1,918 people, 9 miles
  • Lookout Mountain, AL (unincorporated)1,120 people, 12 miles
  • Fyffe, AL986 people, 13 miles
  • Sand Rock, AL620 people, 14 miles
  • Carlisle-Rockledge, AL (unincorporated)1,993 people, 14 miles
  • Shiloh, AL334 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.