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Towns / Alabama

Steele, Alabama

Steele is a small town of about 1,000 people in St. Clair County, Alabama. Its population has held about steady since 2020. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Birmingham, is about 45 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,004
up 0.9% since 2020
Household income
$72,386
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Birmingham area
91.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
12 miles
Gadsden, AL
To Birmingham
45 mi
straight line

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 moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Steele to say.
  • A safer neighborhood2 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 4 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Etowah High School, about 6 miles away.
  • A hospital close byRiverview Regional Medical Center in Gadsden, about 12 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBirmingham is about 45 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 Steele 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 14%St. Clair County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$72,386U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
89%U.S.: 65%
Homes built before 1940
1%U.S.: 12%
Vacation and seasonal homes
5%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 14% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Birmingham metro area, not Steele 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
1,0042020: 995
Median age
32.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
13%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
31%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
9%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%U.S.: 6%
College students
7%share of all residents

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 (14%); construction (12%)
Work from home
7%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: Riverview Regional Medical Center, Gadsden, AL, about 12 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 Steele, run by St Clair County. The nearest public high school is Etowah High School, about 6 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 any internet subscription
90%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
33°F
July average high
91°F
Days 90°F or hotter
66 a year
Nights at or below freezing
53 a year
Rain and melted snow
57.6 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
563 feet

Weather station: Gadsden (13 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

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: Riverview Regional Medical Center, Birmingham.

St. Clair 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:

  • Freedom Riders National Monument27 miles
  • Little River Canyon National Preserve37 miles
  • Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument46 miles

Read about Steele's history on Wikipedia.

Know Steele?

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

  • Gallant, AL (unincorporated)1,081 people, 5 miles
  • Ivalee, AL (unincorporated)809 people, 7 miles
  • Altoona, AL948 people, 9 miles
  • Egypt, AL (unincorporated)616 people, 9 miles
  • Walnut Grove, AL788 people, 10 miles
  • Bristow Cove, AL (unincorporated)144 people, 12 miles
  • Carlisle-Rockledge, AL (unincorporated)1,993 people, 13 miles
  • Reece City, AL619 people, 13 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.