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Towns / Alabama

Fort Payne, Alabama

Fort Payne is a small town of about 15,200 people in DeKalb County, Alabama. It's the county seat. It has grown about 2% since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.3 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, Atlanta, is about 87 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
15,189
up 2.2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$157,000
DeKalb County prices up 22% since 2022
Household income
$47,479
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Alabama
83.2
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Dekalb Regional Medical Center
To Atlanta
87 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 3.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood26 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.7 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 14.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town6 public schools: 3 elementary, 1 middle, 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byDekalb Regional Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityAtlanta is about 87 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 Fort Payne 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
$157,000U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 22%DeKalb County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$679 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$47,479U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
69%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$531 a yearAlabama: $788
Homes built before 1940
8%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%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 Fort Payne 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
15,1892020: 14,856
Median age
37.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
15%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
26%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
17%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%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 (20%); other services (11%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
17 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
7%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
32%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Dekalb Regional Medical Center, Fort Payne, AL, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 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

6 public schools in Fort Payne, run by Fort Payne City and 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
70%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
87%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
91°F
Days 90°F or hotter
60 a year
Nights at or below freezing
57 a year
Rain and melted snow
57.9 inches a year
Snow
5 inches a year
Elevation
1,403 feet

Weather stations: Ft Payne (2 miles away) and Valley Head (9 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: Chattanooga, Atlanta.

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

8 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Fort Payne Boom Town Historic District, the Fort Payne Main Street Historic District and the Fort Payne Residential Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Little River Canyon National Preserve4 miles
  • Russell Cave National Monument36 miles
  • Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park38 miles
  • Freedom Riders National Monument58 miles

Read about Fort Payne's history on Wikipedia.

Know Fort Payne?

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

  • Pine Ridge, AL270 people, 5 miles
  • Valley Head, AL597 people, 8 miles
  • Hammondville, AL431 people, 8 miles
  • Mentone, AL337 people, 9 miles
  • Shiloh, AL334 people, 11 miles
  • Broomtown, AL (unincorporated)279 people, 11 miles
  • Menlo, GA475 people, 12 miles
  • Fyffe, AL986 people, 12 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.