Chambers County, AL

County Profile

34,192 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Chambers 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.

54out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 32% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity904th of 1,463 counties measured49
Schools1,278th of 1,377 counties measured14
GrowthTop 26% of 1,453 counties measured63
Housing affordabilityTop 37% of 1,462 counties measured76
ClimateTop 20% of 1,463 counties measured75
Physical resilience764th of 1,463 counties measured58
Access1,243rd of 1,463 counties measured57
Economic stability1,316th of 1,463 counties measured25
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.0% and median household income $49,656, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 32% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.6 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 28% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.5 times what its owners earn.

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
34,192
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$49,656
Bottom 13% nationally
Density
57/sq mi
596.6 sq mi of land
Median age
41.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Chambers County
Alabama
Micro area
Nearest major airport
MGM
72 mi · Montgomery Rgnl (Dannelly Fld)
Median home value
$135,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.0%, lower than in 90% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 2.1% over the past year, to 17,854 employed residents.

Median household income of $49,656 is lower than in 87% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$45,56610th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$41,4243rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,9192024 ACS 5-Year$49,656Bottom 13%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,3412024 ACS 5-Year$27,725Bottom 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$41,763Bottom 3%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year15.8%Bottom 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.0 minTop 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year14.9%Bottom 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year85.0%93rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202617,854Bottom 27%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+4.6%Top 10%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−2.1%Bottom 20%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202618,39726th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year69.5%Bottom 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%64th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 45%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.0%Top 10%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year4.4%13th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.51.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.0% 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

202120222023202450k47k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $49,656 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.

32% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 31% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.6 students for every full-time teacher across 11 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
12
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.6
across 11 of them
Math proficiency
31.6%
Bottom 15% in Alabama
Reading proficiency
30.5%
Bottom 13% in Alabama
The 12 largest public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Valley High SchoolChambers County69218.227%27%
Fairfax Elementary SchoolChambers County68919.741%46%
W O Lance ElementaryLanett City56416.119%21%
W F Burns Middle SchoolChambers County54519.537%39%
Huguley Elementary SchoolChambers County38317.451%43%
Lafayette Eastside Elementary SchoolChambers County31117.322%27%
Lanett Senior High SchoolLanett City26014.445%5%
Bob HardingShawmut ElementaryChambers County23217.8——
Lafayette High SchoolChambers County18214.05%15%
Lanett Junior High SchoolLanett City14718.432%32%
John P Powell Middle SchoolChambers County14020.017%17%
Inspire AcademyChambers County0———

61.4% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Alabama is up 50% over five years, and up 5.2% 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 $523 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.39% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,002, some 15% above the $871 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,002 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $40,100 a year, about 81% of the median household income here of $49,656.

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 $871 a month.

A median home at $135,800 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $53,619, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
28.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,002
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$871
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$135,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Chambers County’s median household income of $49,656, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Alabama’s figure2026 Q2+5.2%76th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Alabama’s figure2026 Q2+49.8%68th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Alabama’s figure2026 Q2+89.5%42nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year2.5Bottom 49%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year71.8%36th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±282024 ACS 5-Year16,43558th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$770Top 19%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,265Top 19%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,002Top 27%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$512024 ACS 5-Year$871Top 50%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$16,9782024 ACS 5-Year$135,80024th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$422024 ACS 5-Year$5235th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$6,5302024 ACS 5-Year$53,619Bottom 8%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year0.39%6th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year28.3%Bottom 45%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2002024 ACS 5-Year41254th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.5%48th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year15.8%87th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4092024 ACS 5-Year3,00166th 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.

Development Momentum

63/ 100
Top 26% of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 3 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 fallen 2% since 2020, to 33,813 in 2024.

Permit activity rose in each of the 3 calendar years through 2025.

Federal tax returns show Chambers County lost about 0.4% 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 $45,566, above the $41,424 of households that moved out.

At 2.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
97
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.8
Top 50% nationally
Year over year
+90%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
57.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202435k34k
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 falling for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
51%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$45,566
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$41,424
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Lee County, AL 424 people · 28% of arrivals
  2. Troup County, GA 318 people · 21% of arrivals
  3. Randolph County, AL 115 people · 7.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Lee County, AL 559 people · 35% of departures
  2. Troup County, GA 273 people · 17% of departures
  3. Randolph County, AL 91 people · 5.6% of departures
  4. Russell County, AL 47 people · 2.9% 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

20222023202420259615
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+540%).

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 30°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 56.5 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LAFAYETTE 2W, 2.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals56.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals30°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

58 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 55% of it. Heat wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

HurricaneModerate
TornadoElevated
LightningModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Inland floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, wildfire, ice storm, hail, drought, cold wave, strong wind, landslide, 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.

Chambers County has a modeled homicide rate of about 10.7 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 23.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 8.4 per 100,000 residents in Chambers County.

Homicide
10.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
23.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
8.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
16.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 Chambers 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.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. 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 Montgomery Rgnl (Dannelly Fld) at 72 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year82.1%Bottom 20%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle72 miBottom 14%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year15.6%Bottom 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Montgomery Rgnl (Dannelly Fld)MGM72 mi9,020 ft
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta IntlATL75 mi12,390 ft
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth IntlBHM90 mi12,007 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
54
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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
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.

Cities in Chambers County, AL

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.