Living in Mount Vernon, Alabama: homes, schools and costs

The book's checklist

Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 11.9% below the U.S. average in the Mobile 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 neighborhood2 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.5 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 19.7 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is McIntosh High School, about 12 miles away.
A hospital close byNorth Baldwin Infirmary in Bay Minette, about 19 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
Within reach of a big cityNew Orleans is about 135 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 Mount Vernon 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: $111,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then: Up 14%Mobile County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities: $1,040 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income: $46,307U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them: 72%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill: $289 a yearAlabama: $788
Homes built before 1940: 4%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010: 6%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes: 0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices: 88.1U.S. average = 100 (the Mobile 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 14% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Mobile metro area, not Mount Vernon 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: 1,3852020: 1,355
Median age: 36.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older: 19%U.S.: 17%
Under 18: 19%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: Manufacturing (18%); retail (15%)
Unemployment rate: 3%U.S.: 5%
Work from home: 4%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line: 18%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: North Baldwin Infirmary, Bay Minette, AL, about 19 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 Mount Vernon, run by Mobile County. The nearest public high school is McIntosh High School, about 12 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: 57%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription: 86%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: 41°F
July average high: 90°F
Days 90°F or hotter: 61 a year
Nights at or below freezing: 20 a year
Rain and melted snow: 71.8 inches a year
Snow: 0 inches a year
Elevation: 42 feet

Weather station: Bay Minette (20 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

North Baldwin InfirmaryEmergency room19

Mobile, ALCity of 201,00030

New Orleans, LAMetro of 1 million135

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: North Baldwin Infirmary, Mobile, New Orleans.

Mobile County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Mount Vernon Arsenal-Searcy Hospital Complex.

Read about Mount Vernon's history on Wikipedia.

Know Mount Vernon?

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

Citronelle, AL3,900 people, 14 miles
Creola, AL2,000 people, 15 miles
Satsuma, AL6,900 people, 16 miles
Saraland, AL16,700 people, 17 miles
Bay Minette, AL8,600 people, 19 miles
Chickasaw, AL6,200 people, 22 miles

Smaller places

Movico, AL (unincorporated)168 people, 2 miles
Fairford, AL (unincorporated)150 people, 7 miles
Malcolm, AL (unincorporated)204 people, 8 miles
Stockton, AL (unincorporated)356 people, 10 miles
Axis, AL (unincorporated)326 people, 11 miles
McIntosh, AL192 people, 12 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.