Valley, Alabama

Area Profile

10,277 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Valley, in Chambers County.

59out of 100
Area Score
Top 50% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 12 sources
OpportunityTop 48% of 4,199 cities measured57
Schools3,452nd of 4,162 cities measured24
GrowthTop 11% of 4,224 cities measured73
Housing affordabilityTop 21% of 4,218 cities measured76
ClimateTop 43% of 4,225 cities measured72
Physical resilienceTop 46% of 4,226 cities measured62
Access4,036th of 4,226 cities measured54
Economic stability3,890th of 4,226 cities measured28
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.0% and median household income $51,661, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Chambers County, AL, which contains Valley, rather than for Valley alone.

In the public schools here, 38% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.2 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 91 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 102% on the prior year.

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
10,277
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$51,661
Bottom 25% nationally
Density
797/sq mi
12.9 sq mi of land
Median age
34.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Alabama
Micro area
Nearest major airport
ATL
73 mi · Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta Intl
Median home value
$140,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Chambers County, AL, which contains Valley, is 3.0%, lower than in 93% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Chambers County, AL, which contains Valley, fell 2.1% over the past year, to 17,854 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$6,2602024 ACS 5-Year$51,661Bottom 25%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,3102024 ACS 5-Year$26,070Bottom 23%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year15.7%Bottom 33%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.3 minTop 32%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year17.1%Bottom 41%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year85.8%77th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentChambers County, AL’s figureJuly 202617,854Bottom 19%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Chambers County, AL’s figureJuly 2026+4.6%Top 7%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Chambers County, AL’s figureJuly 2026−2.1%Bottom 19%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceChambers County, AL’s figureJuly 202618,39719th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year70.7%Bottom 28%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Chambers County, AL’s figureJuly 2026−0.1%Bottom 49%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateChambers County, AL’s figureJuly 20263.0%Top 7%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year4.5%34th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202455k51k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $51,661 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Chambers County, AL, which contains this city.

38% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 39% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.2 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
37.6%
Bottom 19% in Alabama
Reading proficiency
38.6%
Bottom 25% in Alabama
All 6 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Beulah Elementary SchoolLee County69615.541%40%
Valley High SchoolChambers County69218.227%27%
Fairfax Elementary SchoolChambers County68919.741%46%
W F Burns Middle SchoolChambers County54519.537%39%
Beulah High SchoolLee County53514.143%42%
Bob HardingShawmut ElementaryChambers County23217.8——

56.8% 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 $509 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.36% 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, close to the $1,016 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 78% of the median household income here of $51,661.

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 $1,016 a month.

A median home at $140,800 costs 2.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $50,879, 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
2.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,002
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,016
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$140,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Valley’s median household income of $51,661, 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%80th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Alabama’s figure2026 Q2+49.8%77th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Alabama’s figure2026 Q2+89.5%45th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.62024 ACS 5-Year2.8Bottom 41%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year67.5%33rd percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2692024 ACS 5-Year4,79588th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$770Top 5%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,265Top 5%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,002Top 8%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1542024 ACS 5-Year$1,016Bottom 46%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$24,1412024 ACS 5-Year$140,80035th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$772024 ACS 5-Year$5096th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,1522024 ACS 5-Year$50,879Bottom 13%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.08%2024 ACS 5-Year0.36%4th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year28.3%Top 50%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1342024 ACS 5-Year13491st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.8%74th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year14.7%79th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2432024 ACS 5-Year84194th percentileof 32,3302024 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

73/ 100
Top 11% of 4,224 published city 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 3% since 2020, to 10,144 in 2024.

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

62% of the 91 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 8.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
91
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
8.9
Top 14% nationally
Year over year
+102%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
61.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202410k10k
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.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420259215
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+513%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 93°F and January a low of 38°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 48.8 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station COLUMBUS METRO AP, 24.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals48.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals38°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals35°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

62 / 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 58% 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
LightningModerate
TornadoModerate
Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, wildfire, hail, strong wind, ice storm, landslide, cold wave, 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). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
347
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
3,494
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Valley's police department reported 347 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 3,494.

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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Valley’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Valley (Chambers County) rather than Valley itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta Intl at 73 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±8%2024 ACS 5-Year89.5%Bottom 48%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle73 miBottom 5%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year7.4%Top 50%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta IntlATL73 mi12,390 ft
Montgomery Rgnl (Dannelly Fld)MGM77 mi9,020 ft
Dothan RgnlDHN103 mi8,500 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
59
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Other cities in LaGrange, GA-AL

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
LaGrangeTroup County32,07868LaGrange vs Valley

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Valley side by side with a similar place.

Valley vs CrossvilleValley vs Boaz

Moving to Valley from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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 codes in Valley

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Valley with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
3685416,537$55,973$160,10059