Living in Gadsden, AL
Small city in Alabama
Gadsden is a small city in Alabama, home to about 34,000 people, with 259,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, a car is essential. Life moves at a slow, calm pace, and homes are mostly houses.
Is Gadsden a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $168k and rents for $1,120 a month
- Low taxes: about $1,147 state income tax per resident, 0.52% property tax
- Low natural disaster risk: 9 federally declared disasters since 2000
👎 Cons
- Fewer graduates: 15% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher
- Fewer outdoor escapes: no big hills or water close by
- Smaller job market: about 259,000 people live within 31 mi
- Fewer family amenities than most places
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Gadsden ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Gadsden: common questions
What is the cost of living in Gadsden?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $168k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $1,120 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are below the US average (index 86, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Gadsden?
Alabama collects about $1,147 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 0.52% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Gadsden safe?
Gadsden isn't in the FBI's 2019 city crime table, so Best Life Fit Me counts its safety as average.
How are the schools in Gadsden?
Public schools in Gadsden test below the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 17 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Gadsden?
Gadsden has mild winters: winter days average around 55°F and summer days around 90°F.
Does Gadsden get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is moderate, mainly from flooding and tornadoes: 9 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 1.18 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Gadsden?
The nearest major airport is BHM, about 52 mi away.
How Gadsden scores
Each bar compares Gadsden with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like Gadsden
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
Is Gadsden right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.