ForestdaleAL
A town of 9,742.
Is Forestdale a good place to live?
Forestdale gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $171K, 2.4 years of the Birmingham metro’s $71K median household income. It grades C− overall, 125th of 187 graded towns in Alabama. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 80% of the country. Only 5 of Alabama’s 308 towns score lower on the outdoors. 27% of residents are 65 or older in Forestdale, against 18% in Alabama’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns.
99% of working residents leave Forestdale for work
Where Forestdale’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Forestdale grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Alabama), ordered by how far Forestdale is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Legion Field and 21 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Forestdale. Close and well known come first.
5 mi Stadium & arenaLegion Field
6 mi Stadium & arenaProtective Stadium
7 mi MuseumSloss Furnaces
6 mi Stadium & arenaLegacy Arena28 mi LakeLewis Smith Lake
6 mi Stadium & arenaBirmingham–Jefferson Convention ComplexPhoto credits
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 · Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex: Chris Pruitt, CC BY-SA 3.0
Moving to Forestdale: who provides what
Forestdale is unincorporated, so Jefferson County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Forestdale.
Forestdale has homes that are cheap against local pay and has added a third more jobs in ten years.
Forestdale earns a C− for health
20% of adults have diabetes in Forestdale. Forestdale beats the Alabama average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 51% of adults have high blood pressure in Forestdale.
| Forestdale | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 51% | 43% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 36% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 16% |
| What stands out | Forestdale | AL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.3% | 14.1% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.7% | 8.2% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 15.6% | 9.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Forestdale’s public schools trail 69% of Alabama districts
One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glad Tidings Christian Academy PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 69 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AL on state tests and graduation
Forestdale has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs based here grew from 1,396 in 2013 to 1,865.
Most working residents leave Forestdale for work: only 1% work in town. Jobs based in Forestdale grew to 1,865 in 2023, 469 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Birmingham (44%), Hoover (7%) and Homewood (7%).
| Forestdale | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.2% | 10% | 8% |
| Work from home | 5.8% | 6.7% | 11% |
| Median household income | $67,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Forestdale earns a B for cost of living
At 2.4 years of the Birmingham metro’s $71K median household income, the typical home (about $171K) costs less against local pay than in 85% of Alabama towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living.
The typical Forestdale home is worth about $171,000, up 3.3% in a year, 28% below the Alabama typical home.
| Forestdale | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,203 a month | $940 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 69% | 70% | 73% |
Typical home value
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Older than Alabama overall
21% of Forestdale residents are under 18. 28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 28% across Alabama.
| Forestdale | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 21% | 23% | 22% |
| Median age | 41.7 years | 39.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 28% | 23% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
56% women, 44% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±6.1 points. Across Alabama, 51.4% of residents are women.
| Forestdale | AL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.9% | 11.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.7% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.5% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.1% | 12.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.4% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 8.8% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.9% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.8% | 7.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.5% | 11.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.9% | 30.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 26.5% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.7% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.1% | 17.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.4% | 11.1% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Forestdale has mild winters and hot summers
Forestdale has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Forestdale’s July high is 91°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Forestdale faces a moderate natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 58% of U.S. communities. Since 1983, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Forestdale.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Everything we know about Forestdale
Colleges nearby
7 within 15 miles of the center of Forestdale
About 6 of every 100 Forestdale residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Alabama.
About Forestdale
Unincorporated community in Alabama, United States
Forestdale is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is north of the Birmingham city neighborhood of Ensley. At the 2020 census, the population was 10,409.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 6.7 sq mi
- Elevation
- 646 ft
- Area code
- 205
Forestdale’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Forestdale.
| Town | AL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forestdale | #125 | C− | B | — | C | C− |
| Adamsville | #122 | C− | B+ | D | C | C |
| Birmingham | #164 | D− | B | D− | D | D |
| Brookside | — | — | A+ | C− | C | B− |
Brookside has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Forestdale reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Forestdale with a neighbor →
Questions about Forestdale
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Forestdale, AL a good place to live?
Forestdale grades C− overall, better than 16% of U.S. towns and #125 of 187 in Alabama. It grades C− for health and C for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Forestdale, AL expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.