Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Bessemer grades D− overall, 177th among Alabama's 187 graded towns, mostly because of safety and schools. Its crime rate is higher than 100% of U.S. towns, with 424 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Its schools rank among the lowest in Alabama on tests and graduation. What it does well: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 76% of U.S. towns. Bessemer’s violent crime rate is 17.1 per 1,000 residents, where Alabama’s towns sit at 2.9 and U.S. towns at 1.6. Of the 138 Alabama towns we compare, none has a higher property crime rate than Bessemer. Bessemer has 7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Southern Railway Terminal Station and Owen Plantation House.
Where Bessemer beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Bessemer’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Alabama), ordered by how far Bessemer is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 4,544 in 1890, 26,019 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1840 and 3 maps from 1905 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bessemer. Close and well known come first.
Big draw35 mi Stadium & arenaBryant–Denny Stadium
12 mi Stadium & arenaLegion Field
14 mi Stadium & arenaProtective Stadiumin town Theme parkAlabama Adventure & Splash Adventure
15 mi MuseumSloss Furnaces
14 mi Stadium & arenaLegacy ArenaBryant–Denny Stadium: Joel יוֹאֵל, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Legion Field: USGS, Public domain · Protective Stadium: Unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sloss Furnaces: DXR, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Legacy Arena: AuburnShuffle, CC0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bessemer, 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 Bessemer.
Bessemer draws workers from Birmingham and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it reports violent crime at 5 times the Alabama rate.
Violent crime runs at 17.1 per 1,000 residents, 5 times the Alabama rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Each of the 4 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Birmingham (D−) to Helena (A).
Bessemer reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 100% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Each of its 7 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its D−, Hoover highest at A+.
Its public schools are run by the Bessemer City school district. Two of its 15 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bessemer City Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 616 | C− |
| Bessemer City High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 760 | D− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AL on state tests and graduation
24,704 jobs are based in Bessemer, 2.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 14,749 in 2013 to 24,704.
Most working residents leave Bessemer for work: only 18% work in town. 28% of Bessemer residents live below the poverty line. Jobs based in Bessemer grew to 24,704 in 2023, 9,955 more than in 2013.
| Bessemer | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 28% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $40,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Work from home | 9.4% | 6.7% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 2,272 U.S. towns with household incomes like Bessemer’s, it is less healthy than 63%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
Bessemer beats the Alabama average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 20. 22% of adults have diabetes in Bessemer. Only 7 of the 187 Alabama towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Bessemer.
| Bessemer | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 15% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 52% | 43% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 36% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 19% | 14% |
| What stands out | Bessemer | AL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.5% | 14.1% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.7% | 8.2% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 19.1% | 9.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
11 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Bessemer | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2% | 1.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Watercress Darter National Wildlife Refuge | — | 20 |
| 2. Legacy Park | 0.2 mi | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 1.8 years of the Birmingham metro’s $71K median household income, the typical home (about $132K) costs less against local pay than in 96% of Alabama towns; that ratio is one input to its B+ for cost of living. The typical value, about $132K, is 13% below its September 2022 peak.
The typical Bessemer home is worth about $132,000, up 0.9% in a year, 45% below the Alabama typical home.
| Bessemer | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 57% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $961 a month | $940 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Bessemer has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Bessemer’s July high is 91°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
239 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 21 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 55% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 239 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bessemer.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
6 within 15 miles of the center of Bessemer
About 5 of every 100 Bessemer residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Alabama.
7 places in Bessemer on the National Register of Historic Places.
33 notable people were born in Bessemer.
City in Alabama, United States
Bessemer is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States and a southwestern suburb of Birmingham. The population was 26,019 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 25,079 in 2024. It is within the Birmingham–Hoover, AL Metropolitan statistical area, of which Jefferson County is the center. It developed rapidly as an industrial city in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Bessemer.
All 5 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D−; Birmingham (D−) is closest. Helena next door grades higher for schools (B− to Bessemer’s D−) and lower for cost of living (C+ to B+).
| Town | AL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessemer | #177 | D− | B+ | D− | D− | D |
| McCalla | #78 | C+ | B− | — | C | B |
| Hueytown | #153 | D | B+ | D | C | C− |
| Hoover | #19 | A− | C− | B | A+ | A |
| Brighton | — | — | A+ | — | C | D |
| Lipscomb | — | — | B+ | — | C | D− |
| Helena | #15 | A− | C+ | A | B− | A |
| Birmingham | #164 | D− | B | D− | D | D |
Brighton and Lipscomb have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. McCalla, Brighton and Lipscomb report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Bessemer with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bessemer grades D− overall, better than 2% of U.S. towns and #177 of 187 in Alabama. It grades D for health, D− for safety and D− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. That is 1.8 years of the area's median household income ($71,498 across the Birmingham, 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+.
33 notable people were born here, including André Holland and Glenn Shadix.
