Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Citronelle gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $166K for a typical one, or 2.8 years of the Mobile metro’s $59K median household income. It grades C− overall, 112th among Alabama's 187 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $44K, and 22% of residents live below the poverty line, and FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 84% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top. Citronelle’s trail density is 1.9 miles per square mile, against 0.1 in Alabama’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. On safety, just 15 of Alabama’s 186 towns do better. Citronelle has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Citronelle Railroad Historic District and Central Core Historic District.
Where Citronelle beats most towns.
Barr's Subdivision Historic District
Its founding year, 1811, comes before those of 96% of the Alabama towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 250 in 1850, a low of 169 in 1880, 3,946 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1933 and 2 maps from 1943 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Alabama), ordered by how far Citronelle is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Citronelle, 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 Citronelle.
Citronelle trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, fares better on crime within Alabama than nationally and has more trail for its size than nearly any town in Alabama.
At 1.9 miles of trail per square mile, it ranks #3 of 113 Alabama towns.
49 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Citronelle Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Mobile County school district. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Citronelle High School, with 734 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lott Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 427 | C+ |
| Citronelle High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 734 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AL on state tests and graduation
Against the 3,637 U.S. towns with household incomes like Citronelle’s, it is less healthy than 55%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
Citronelle beats the Alabama average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 17% of adults have diabetes in Citronelle, above both Alabama’s towns (15%) and U.S. towns (12%). 33% of adults get no exercise outside work in Citronelle.
| Citronelle | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 30% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 43% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 14% |
| What stands out | Citronelle | AL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 21.1% | 15.4% |
| More smokers | 18.6% | 15.1% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.8% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
One flood insurance claim has been paid in Citronelle since 1985.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The average commute for its 1,310 working residents takes 32.5 minutes, against 25.5 across Alabama.
Most working residents leave Citronelle for work: only 13% work in town. 23% of Citronelle residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Citronelle has lost 202 jobs, to 813 in 2023.
| Citronelle | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 23% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $44,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 9.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Homes are within reach (about $166K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 28 miles. At 2.8 years of the Mobile metro’s $59K median household income, the typical home (about $166K) costs less against local pay than in 75% of Alabama towns; that ratio is one input to its A− for cost of living.
The median rent in Citronelle is $769 a month. The typical Citronelle home is worth about $166,000, up 4.3% in a year, 30% below the Alabama typical home.
| Citronelle | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $769 a month | $943 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 70% | 69% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 11.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 93% of Alabama’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025, 0.8 per 1,000 residents.
Citronelle’s property crime rate is 5.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Citronelle | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.1 per 1,000 residents | 17 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.8 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Citronelle has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 91° and January nights drop to 39°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
None within 15 miles of Citronelle; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Citronelle residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Alabama.
Where Citronelle’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Citronelle on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in the United States
Citronelle is a city on the northern border of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 3,946. It is included in the Mobile metropolitan statistical area and is about 34 miles (55 km) north of Mobile.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Citronelle grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #112 of 187 in Alabama. It grades D for health, B+ for safety and C− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
