Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Anniston earns a D−, 181st among Alabama's 187 graded towns, mostly because of safety and health. Its crime rate is higher than 97% of U.S. towns, with 153 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Residents are less healthy than 93% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. In its favor, it has 90 miles of trail. Anniston’s violent crime rate is 7.3 per 1,000 residents, above both the Alabama town median (2.9) and the median of U.S. towns (1.6). Its National Register listings include Crowan Cottage and Lyric Theatre. Anniston's schools rank behind 88% of the state's.
Where Anniston beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Anniston Inn Kitchen
Its 47 National Register listings are more than in 96% of Alabama towns with a listing.
Census counts: 942 in 1880, a peak of 33,320 in 1960, 21,564 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 3 maps from 1947 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Alabama), ordered by how far Anniston is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Anniston, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Anniston.
Anniston has more trail for its size than nearly any town in Alabama and draws workers from Oxford and beyond, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Alabama rate.
At 2 miles of trail per square mile, it ranks #2 of 113 Alabama towns. Its A for the outdoors ranks #3 of 187 in Alabama.
The trail density in Anniston is 2.0 miles per square mile. Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge, at 1,657 acres with 14 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Coldwater Mountain Doug Ghee Nature Preserve and Recreation Area | 41.5 mi | 3,863 |
| 2. Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge | 14 mi | 1,657 |
| 3. Randolph Park | — | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Each of its 4 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its D, Oxford highest at A−.
Its public schools are run by the Anniston City school district. Two of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Anniston High School, with 498 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anniston Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 357 | D− |
| Anniston High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 498 | D− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AL on state tests and graduation
Violent crime runs at 7.3 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Alabama rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Property crime runs at 36 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Alabama rate, most of it theft.
Anniston’s property crime rate is 36 per 1,000 residents. Anniston reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 97% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
17,810 jobs are based in Anniston, 2.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 4 of Anniston’s working residents works in town. 21% of residents live below the poverty line in Anniston. The top destinations are Oxford (13%), Gadsden (4%) and Birmingham (4%).
| Anniston | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 28% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 21% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $47,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.7% | 6.7% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 4,535 U.S. towns with household incomes like Anniston’s, it is less healthy than 78%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
19% of Anniston adults have diabetes. Anniston beats the Alabama average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 51% of Anniston adults have high blood pressure.
| Anniston | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 51% | 43% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 40% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 19% | 14% |
| What stands out | Anniston | AL |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 15.2% | 9.6% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 29.6% | 19.2% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 14.4% | 9.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 2.6 years of the Anniston metro’s $55K median household income, the typical home (about $146K) costs less against local pay than in 80% of Alabama towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living.
The typical Anniston home is worth about $146,000, up 4.2% in a year, 39% below the Alabama typical home.
| Anniston | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $799 a month | $943 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
July afternoons average 89.3°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 86% of Alabama places with climate records; January nights average 32.7°.
Anniston has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Anniston | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 89°F | 91°F | 85°F |
| January low | 33°F | 33°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
People 65 and older are 23% of residents (18% statewide). Anniston has lost 2.9% of its people since 2020, down to 20,930 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Anniston | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 18% | 18% |
| Median age | 42.8 years | 39.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 21% | 23% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 21% | 23% | 29% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.2 points. Across Alabama, 51.4% of residents are women.
| Anniston | AL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.3% | 11.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.6% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.9% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.2% | 12.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.5% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.7% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.8% | 7.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 16.3% | 11.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.7% | 30.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.7% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.8% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 12.8% | 17.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.7% | 11.1% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 50% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 19 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Anniston.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Anniston. Close and well known come first.
13 mi MountainCheaha Mountain
16 mi MuseumInternational Motorsports Hall of Fame
28 mi WaterfallNoccalula Falls Park
6 mi National MonumentFreedom Riders National Monument
15 mi GardenJanney Furnace Park
26 mi TheatreMort Glosser AmphitheaterCheaha Mountain: Amann09 (talk · contribs), Public domain · International Motorsports Hall of Fame: BWard 1997, CC BY 4.0 · Noccalula Falls Park: Thejammer (talk), Public domain · Freedom Riders National Monument: Ser Amantio di Nicolao, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Janney Furnace Park: dofftoubab, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mort Glosser Amphitheater: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain
1 within 15 miles of the center of Anniston
About 3 of every 100 Anniston residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Alabama.
19.3% of the town is conserved land, across 11 parks and preserves.
47 places in Anniston on the National Register of Historic Places.
53 notable people were born in Anniston.
City in and county seat of Calhoun County, Alabama
Anniston is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County in Alabama, United States, and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston–Oxford Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Anniston had a population of 21,564. Named the "Model City" by Atlanta newspaperman Henry W. Grady for its careful planning in the late nineteenth century, the city is situated on the slope of Blue Mountain.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Anniston.
All 4 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D−; West End-Cobb Town (C) is closest.
| Town | AL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anniston | #181 | D− | B | D− | D | D |
| Saks | #84 | C | A | — | B | C− |
| Oxford | #96 | C | B+ | C− | A− | C− |
| West End-Cobb Town | #100 | C | A | — | B | D− |
| Weaver | #99 | C | B+ | C− | B | C+ |
| Hobson City | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Saks and West End-Cobb Town report no FBI crime data of their own. Hobson City isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Anniston with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Anniston grades D− overall, better than 2% of U.S. towns and #181 of 187 in Alabama. It grades D for health, D− for safety and D for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 2.6 years of the area's median household income ($55,029 across the Anniston-Oxford, AL metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
53 notable people were born here, including Michael Biehn and Ruth Elder.
