Living in Morris, Alabama: homes, schools and costs

The book's checklist

Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 8.4% below the U.S. average in the Birmingham metro area.
More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
A safer neighborhood1 violent crime was reported in 2025, about 0.4 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 5.3 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Mortimer Jordan High School, about 3 miles away.
A hospital close bySt. Vincent's East in Birmingham, about 13 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
Within reach of a big cityBirmingham is about 15 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 Morris 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: $241,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then: Up 12%Jefferson County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities: $797 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income: $101,563U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them: 89%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill: $1,241 a yearAlabama: $788
Homes built before 1940: 2%U.S.: 12%
Vacation and seasonal homes: 0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices: 91.6U.S. average = 100 (the Birmingham 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 12% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Birmingham metro area, not Morris 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: 2,3602020: 2,301
Median age: 38 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older: 12%U.S.: 17%
Under 18: 23%U.S.: 22%
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: Schools, health care and social services (24%); retail (12%); construction (9%)
Unemployment rate: 4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute: 28 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home: 8%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line: 7%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: St. Vincent's East, Birmingham, AL, about 13 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

1 public school in Morris, run by Jefferson County. The nearest public high school is Mortimer Jordan High School, about 3 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: 85%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription: 92%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: 90°F
Days 90°F or hotter: 64 a year
Nights at or below freezing: 72 a year
Rain and melted snow: 57 inches a year
Snow: 1 inches a year
Elevation: 432 feet

Weather station: Pinson (8 miles away). 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

St. Vincent's EastEmergency room13

Birmingham, ALMetro of 1.2 million15

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: St. Vincent's East, Birmingham.

Jefferson County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, 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:

Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument16 miles
Freedom Riders National Monument52 miles

Read about Morris's history on Wikipedia.

Know Morris?

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

Kimberly, AL4,900 people, 2 miles
Warrior, AL3,300 people, 5 miles
Gardendale, AL16,400 people, 5 miles
Mount Olive, AL3,600 people, 7 miles
Pinson, AL7,800 people, 8 miles
Fultondale, AL9,300 people, 9 miles

Smaller places

Trafford, AL597 people, 6 miles
County Line, AL332 people, 7 miles
Smoke Rise, AL (unincorporated)1,471 people, 9 miles
West Jefferson, AL482 people, 15 miles
Colony, AL281 people, 15 miles

Sources

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.