Safest Counties in Alabama: 26 Ranked (2026)
The 26 Alabama counties where police report enough to the FBI to build a reliable rate, ranked by violent crime, with home prices, asking rents and incomes where available.
Alabama has 67 counties. Twenty-six of them clear the reporting bar this page uses, and the gap between the quietest, Shelby at 128 violent offenses per 100,000, and the busiest, Houston at 638, is 5.0 to one. Beside each rate sits what homes there closed at over the last 12 months, from 78,093 closing records Resideline tracked across all 26 counties.
The crime rates here are built from the 4,194,650 residents those police agencies actually report on, over the months they reported. Each figure is a single county-wide figure, so treat this as a way to narrow a search rather than a verdict on any street.
We do not treat missing or conflicting crime data as zero. A county appears here only when its reporting clears our reliability threshold, and we set aside results that conflict materially with the state's own records. Whether a county is ranked depends on its crime reporting alone; whether it shows a price depends on whether Resideline tracked enough closings there.
The ranking
| # | County | Violent per 100k | Property per 100k | Median closed price | Median asking rent | Median income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shelby | 128 | 638 | $375,000 | $1,895 | $102,861 |
| 2 | Marshall | 147 | 998 | $235,000 | $1,500 | $64,913 |
| 3 | DeKalb | 151 | 840 | $235,000 | n/a | $54,180 |
| 4 | Elmore | 159 | 1,075 | $259,900 | $1,600 | $80,024 |
| 5 | Cullman | 162 | 1,282 | $250,000 | $1,495 | $64,722 |
| 6 | Baldwin | 184 | 891 | $369,975 | $2,000 | $82,519 |
| 7 | St. Clair | 186 | 899 | $272,000 | $1,645 | $76,980 |
| 8 | Colbert | 190 | 1,104 | $210,000 | $1,050 | $62,972 |
| 9 | Etowah | 203 | 1,213 | $229,900 | $1,000 | $57,284 |
| 10 | Blount | 231 | 1,079 | $214,000 | n/a | $69,371 |
| 11 | Jackson | 255 | 1,529 | $247,500 | $1,200 | $56,900 |
| 12 | Walker | 259 | 1,849 | $182,000 | $1,200 | $57,993 |
| 13 | Dale | 264 | 1,222 | $170,000 | $1,100 | $58,359 |
| 14 | Autauga | 282 | 1,256 | $220,000 | $1,800 | $78,840 |
| 15 | Madison | 309 | 1,742 | $320,000 | $1,550 | $89,197 |
| 16 | Talladega | 327 | 1,817 | $201,720 | $1,300 | $55,578 |
| 17 | Tuscaloosa | 349 | 1,628 | $263,025 | $1,600 | $67,379 |
| 18 | Lauderdale | 358 | 1,295 | $239,000 | $1,200 | $67,098 |
| 19 | Lee | 361 | 1,566 | $362,042 | $1,800 | $70,233 |
| 20 | Morgan | 379 | 1,338 | $239,000 | $1,395 | $68,601 |
| 21 | Mobile | 478 | 1,352 | $223,788 | $1,537 | $60,321 |
| 22 | Coffee | 490 | 1,388 | $208,100 | $1,450 | $71,584 |
| 23 | Calhoun | 535 | 1,754 | $205,000 | $1,025 | $53,533 |
| 24 | Jefferson | 592 | 2,572 | $251,897 | $1,319 | $69,346 |
| 25 | Montgomery | 594 | 2,681 | $147,000 | $1,350 | $61,102 |
| 26 | Houston | 638 | 2,053 | $220,000 | $1,300 | $59,056 |
A closer look at the 12 safest counties
1. Shelby County
At 128 violent offenses per 100,000, Shelby sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes changed hands at a median $375,000, around 160 percent of what the rest of this list recorded. Low crime and high prices arrive together here, which is the arrangement buyers assume is universal and is not. Households there earn a median of $102,861, about 156 percent of the median for these counties. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 638 per 100,000, or 0.5 times the median comparable US county. Resideline publishes a separate page for Hoover, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
2. Marshall County
Marshall records 147 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the Alabama counties measured here. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. The median closed price, $235,000, sits near the center of the counties measured. Property crime is low too, at 998 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.8 times the median comparable US county. Asking rents run about $1,500 a month. For prices at street level, see Guntersville, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
3. DeKalb County
Police in DeKalb reported 151 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the lowest quarter of this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. At $235,000, its median closed price is unremarkable against the rest of this list. The gap between local wages and local prices is wide: 4.3 times household income, in the top quarter of these counties. Property crime is low too, at 840 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.7 times the median comparable US county.
4. Elmore County
Elmore records 159 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the Alabama counties measured here. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Homes there closed at a median of $259,900, close to the middle of this list. Against local incomes it is among the most affordable counties measured, at 3.2 times median household income. Property crime is low too, at 1,075 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.9 times the median comparable US county. Asking rents run about $1,600 a month.
5. Cullman County
Cullman's violent crime rate is 162 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the Alabama counties Resideline can measure. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median closed price, $250,000, sits near the center of the counties measured. Its property rate, 1,282 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. Asking rents run about $1,495 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Cullman, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
6. Baldwin County
Police in Baldwin reported 184 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the lowest quarter of this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes there closed at a median of $369,975, about 157 percent of the median across this list. Quiet and costly at the same time, which is how most of the safest places on this list look. Against what households there earn, a home costs 4.5 times median income, in the top quarter of this list. Property crime is low too, at 891 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.8 times the median comparable US county. For prices at street level, see Daphne, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
7. St. Clair County
At 186 violent offenses per 100,000, St. Clair sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. A median closing price of $272,000 puts it at roughly 116 percent of the middle figure for this list. Both its crime rate and its price sit at the ends of this list, in the directions people expect them to. Households there earn a median of $76,980, about 117 percent of the median for these counties. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 899 per 100,000, or 0.8 times the median comparable US county. Resideline publishes a separate page for Pell City, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
8. Colbert County
Police in Colbert reported 190 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median closed price, $210,000, sits near the center of the counties measured. Property offenses run at 1,104 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. Asking rents run about $1,050 a month.
9. Etowah County
At 203 violent offenses per 100,000, Etowah sits in the middle range of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. At $229,900, its median closed price is unremarkable against the rest of this list. Homes cost 4.0 times what the median household there earns, among the steepest ratios on this list. Its property rate, 1,213 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. The median rental listing asks $1,000 a month. For prices at street level, see Gadsden, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
10. Blount County
Police in Blount reported 231 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. That is close to the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median closed price, $214,000, sits near the center of the counties measured. Local incomes go further here than almost anywhere else on this list, with homes at 3.1 times median household income. Property crime is low, at 1,079 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.9 times the median comparable US county.
11. Jackson County
Jackson records 255 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the middle range of the Alabama counties measured here. That is close to the median comparable US county, which records 245. At $247,500, its median closed price is unremarkable against the rest of this list. Against what households there earn, a home costs 4.3 times median income, in the top quarter of this list. Property offenses run at 1,529 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. The median rental listing asks $1,200 a month.
12. Walker County
Police in Walker reported 259 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. That is close to the median comparable US county, which records 245. A median closing price of $182,000 puts it at roughly 77 percent of the middle figure for this list. Against local incomes it is among the most affordable counties measured, at 3.1 times median household income. Property crime is the higher of its two figures at 1,849 per 100,000, the top quarter of this list and 1.6 times the median comparable US county. Asking rents of $1,200 a month against that price put it in the top quarter of this list for gross return. Resideline publishes a separate page for Jasper, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
Does safety set the price in Alabama?
Somewhat, and less than you would expect. The safest third of these counties runs 15 percent above the highest-crime third on price. The same safe places also earn 9 percent more, so income explains part of the raw gap. This state-level comparison does not isolate density, housing mix or other factors that may explain the remainder.
That matches what we found nationally: across 688 counties, once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, a crime rate stops predicting home prices. The full analysis is in our study of crime and home prices.
That is a county-level result. Within a county, research at the scale of a block or a neighborhood finds that violent crime does lower the value of the homes nearest to it, so use these figures to compare counties, not streets.
Where safety and affordability overlap in Alabama
Four of the 8 safest counties on this list also cost no more than the list's median once prices are set against local incomes: Marshall (147 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.6 times median household income); Elmore (159 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.2 times median household income); St. Clair (186 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.5 times median household income); Colbert (190 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.3 times median household income). Against what households there earn, those are the counties where a low crime rate is not being charged for.
How to read this list
The right way to use this is to narrow the list, then check the address. Averages at this scale hide the variation that actually matters once you are choosing between two houses.
Prices and rents are as of September 9, 2026, from closings and rental listings Resideline tracks over the previous 12 months; a price is shown where at least 100 closings were tracked and a rent where at least 50 listings were. Rent figures are the median asking rent on listings, not lease figures. Crime is the 2025 FBI Crime Data Explorer release, measured for the whole county over the months each agency reported, and violent crime means murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Household income is the Census SAIPE 2024 estimate of the county's median household income; population is the Census 2024 estimate. Where this page compares a rate with the median comparable US county, that figure (245 violent and 1188 property offenses per 100,000) is the median across the 874 US counties with at least 50,000 residents whose agencies reported on 90 percent or more of them for the year.
Sources and related pages
- •Crime: FBI Crime Data Explorer, agency-level offense counts for 2025, aggregated by county over the months each agency reported.
- •Income: Census SAIPE 2024, county median household income.
- •Population: Census county population estimates, vintage 2024.
- •Prices and rents: Resideline's tracked closings and rental listings, 12 months to September 2026.
- •Related: Safest counties by state; Does crime actually lower home prices?; Alabama housing market; Safest counties in Florida; Safest counties in Georgia; Safest counties in Mississippi; Safest counties in Tennessee.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the safest county in Alabama?
Of the 26 Alabama counties measured here, Shelby County records the lowest violent crime rate at 128 offenses per 100,000 residents, against 245 for the median comparable US county. Homes there closed at a median of $375,000 over the last 12 months.
Is this every county in Alabama?
No. It covers 26 of the state's 67 counties, the ones where police agencies report at least 90 percent of the population to the FBI, the area has at least 50,000 residents, and the resulting rate falls inside the sanity bounds we apply. Whether Resideline has enough sales there decides only whether a price is shown. No place above 150,000 residents was excluded.
Does a lower crime rate mean higher home prices?
Less than most people assume. Comparing the safest third of these counties with the highest-crime third, the median closed price is 15 percent higher and household income 9 percent higher. Across 688 US counties we found that once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, a county's crime rate stops predicting its home prices. At the scale of a block, the research says violent crime does lower nearby values.
Is this crime rate for my neighborhood?
No. The FBI publishes these figures for whole counties, so every part of a county carries the same number here, from its densest district to its farmland. It is useful for narrowing a search and not a substitute for looking at a specific address.
Are these rents asking rents or lease rents?
They are the median asking rent on rental listings in the county over the last 12 months. That is what landlords advertised, a guide to the market rather than a lease figure.
About the author
Jeffrey Batista
Jeffrey Batista is the founder of Resideline, a real estate technology company building institutional grade valuation and investment analysis tools for real estate investors.
A software engineer with more than 10 years of experience, Jeffrey has worked across full stack development, infrastructure, data engineering, machine learning, and large scale systems. He left his engineering career to build Resideline full time.
Jeffrey is also a real estate investor with nearly a decade of hands on experience buying, renovating, managing, and analyzing residential properties. His experience on both sides of the industry, as an engineer and an investor, led him to build Resideline after seeing how fragmented and outdated many of the tools available to individual investors were.
Today, he leads the development of Resideline's proprietary data infrastructure, automated valuation models, rental analytics, and investment underwriting technology.
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