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Towns / Alabama

Leesburg, Alabama

Leesburg is a small town of about 1,000 people in Cherokee County, Alabama. It has grown about 5% since 2020. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Birmingham, is about 74 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,009
up 4.7% since 2020
Household income
$56,875
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Alabama
83.2
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
7 miles
Centre, AL
To Birmingham
74 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 moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Leesburg to say.
  • A safer neighborhood5 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 4.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 4.9 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Cherokee County High School, about 7 miles away.
  • A hospital close byFloyd Cherokee Medical Center in Centre, about 7 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBirmingham is about 74 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 Leesburg 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

Home prices since then
Up 21%Cherokee County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$588 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$56,875U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
76%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$775 a yearAlabama: $788
Homes built before 1940
5%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
11%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
19%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 21% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Alabama outside metro areas, not Leesburg 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
1,0092020: 964
Median age
33.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
15%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
27%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
15%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 (22%); schools, health care and social services (18%); retail (16%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
4%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
11%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Floyd Cherokee Medical Center, Centre, AL, about 7 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

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

There are no public schools inside Leesburg itself. The nearest public high school is Cherokee County High School, about 7 miles away.

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
49%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
88%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
29°F
July average high
90°F
Days 90°F or hotter
55 a year
Nights at or below freezing
77 a year
Rain and melted snow
57.6 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
590 feet

Weather stations: Centre (6 miles away) and Gadsden (16 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: Floyd Cherokee Medical Center, Huntsville, Birmingham.

Cherokee County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, 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 Preserve9 miles
  • Freedom Riders National Monument38 miles
  • Russell Cave National Monument54 miles
  • Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park57 miles

Read about Leesburg's history on Wikipedia.

Know Leesburg?

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

  • Sand Rock, AL620 people, 4 miles
  • Coats Bend, AL (unincorporated)1,630 people, 9 miles
  • Ballplay, AL (unincorporated)842 people, 11 miles
  • Lookout Mountain, AL (unincorporated)1,120 people, 12 miles
  • Tidmore Bend, AL (unincorporated)1,192 people, 13 miles
  • Gaylesville, AL181 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.