Calhoun County, AL

County Profile

116,090 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Calhoun County, AL.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

51out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 22% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,281st of 1,463 counties measured33
SchoolsTop 41% of 1,377 counties measured57
Growth1,224th of 1,453 counties measured31
Housing affordabilityTop 33% of 1,462 counties measured77
ClimateTop 10% of 1,463 counties measured78
Physical resilience978th of 1,463 counties measured47
Access1,073rd of 1,463 counties measured68
Economic stability1,307th of 1,463 counties measured26
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 4.2% and the Opportunity signal places Calhoun County in the bottom 12%.

In the public schools here, 48% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.3 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 116 units authorized over the past twelve months, 33% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
116,090
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$55,029
Bottom 23% nationally
Density
192/sq mi
605.9 sq mi of land
Median age
39.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Calhoun County
Alabama
Nearest major airport
BHM
55 mi · Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Intl
Median home value
$156,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% — higher than in all but 47% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 2.0% over the past year, to 47,232 employed residents.

Median household income of $55,029 is lower than in 77% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$45,97111th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$47,12515th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,7632024 ACS 5-Year$55,029Bottom 23%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,0402024 ACS 5-Year$30,275Bottom 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$44,970Bottom 8%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year16.7%Bottom 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year26.7 minBottom 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year20.6%Bottom 42%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year85.1%93rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202647,232Top 41%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.9%Bottom 27%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−2.0%Bottom 22%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202649,31559th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year71.6%Bottom 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%54th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.7%Bottom 9%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.2%Bottom 47%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year5.9%25th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.21.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.2% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202456k51k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $55,029 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Anniston-Oxford, AL

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons1,530$29,400
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators1,450$46,070
Cashiers1,290$27,130
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,080$22,650
Stockers and Order Fillers1,060$29,810
Registered Nurses990$72,730

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

48% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 48% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.3 students for every full-time teacher across 33 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
37
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.3
across 33 of them
Math proficiency
48.0%
Top 40% in Alabama
Reading proficiency
47.9%
Top 30% in Alabama
The 12 largest of 37 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Oxford High SchoolOxford City1,24215.343%42%
Kitty Stone Elementary SchoolJacksonville City92919.065%64%
Oxford Elementary SchoolOxford City83712.969%57%
Jacksonville High SchoolJacksonville City75616.154%52%
Alexandria Elementary SchoolCalhoun County71215.556%55%
Saks Elementary SchoolCalhoun County62516.442%37%
Oxford Middle SchoolOxford City61914.748%50%
Wellborn Elementary SchoolCalhoun County59817.638%38%
Weaver Elementary SchoolCalhoun County54416.541%52%
Piedmont Elementary SchoolPiedmont City54218.161%57%
CE Hanna SchoolOxford City53612.845%47%
White Plains Elementary SchoolCalhoun County53015.661%58%

58.0% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Alabama’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 14% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 86.2, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Anniston-Oxford, AL Metro Area is up 51% over five years, and up 12% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $653 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.42% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $962, some 16% above the $826 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $962 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $38,500 a year, about 70% of the median household income here of $55,029.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $826 a month.

A median home at $156,600 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $67,416, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
86.2

Prices here run about 14% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Anniston-Oxford, AL Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
27.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$962
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$826
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$156,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Calhoun County’s median household income of $55,029, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Anniston-Oxford, AL Metro Area’s figure202386.2Top 3%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Anniston-Oxford, AL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+12.0%99th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Anniston-Oxford, AL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+51.4%77th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Anniston-Oxford, AL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+88.6%41st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 40%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year70.3%30th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±672024 ACS 5-Year53,36183rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$757Top 16%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,300Top 25%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$962Top 17%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$312024 ACS 5-Year$826Top 40%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,8322024 ACS 5-Year$156,60034th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$272024 ACS 5-Year$6539th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,2702024 ACS 5-Year$67,416Bottom 29%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year0.42%8th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.9%Bottom 48%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2132024 ACS 5-Year38552nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%18th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year14.9%84th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±6622024 ACS 5-Year8,34688th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

31/ 100
Ranks 1,224 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has been broadly flat since 2020, at 116,427 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 116 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Calhoun County gained about 0.3% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $45,971, close to the $47,125 of households that moved out.

At 1.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
116
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.0
Bottom 17% nationally
Year over year
−33%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024116k116k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
41%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$45,971
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$47,125
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Talladega County, AL 634 people · 14% of arrivals
  2. Etowah County, AL 475 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Jefferson County, AL 223 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  4. St. Clair County, AL 222 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  5. Cleburne County, AL 218 people · 4.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Talladega County, AL 746 people · 18% of departures
  2. Etowah County, AL 439 people · 10% of departures
  3. St. Clair County, AL 234 people · 5.5% of departures
  4. Jefferson County, AL 221 people · 5.2% of departures
  5. Cleburne County, AL 182 people · 4.3% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202220232024202514757
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+93%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 52.1 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ANNISTON METRO AP, 12.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals52.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals36°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

47 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 50% of it.

TornadoElevated
Inland floodingModerate
LandslideModerate
EarthquakeModerate
LightningModerate
Heat waveModerate
Cold waveModerate
HurricaneModerate

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, wildfire, hail, drought, ice storm, winter weather, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Calhoun County has a modeled homicide rate of about 5.8 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 21.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 22.3 per 100,000 residents in Calhoun County.

Homicide
5.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
21.5
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
22.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
27.5
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Calhoun County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Intl at 55 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year87.3%Top 47%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle55 miBottom 25%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year10.3%Bottom 49%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth IntlBHM55 mi12,007 ft
Huntsville Intl-Carl T Jones FldHSV81 mi10,001 ft
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta IntlATL81 mi12,390 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
51
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.