MargaretAL
A town of 7,149, settled in 1907.
Is Margaret a good place to live?
Margaret gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $231K, 3.2 years of the Birmingham metro’s $71K median household income. It grades B+ overall, ranked 43rd of 187 in Alabama. On the plus side, the median household earns $102K. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 91% of U.S. towns. On history, just 6 of Alabama’s 308 towns do worse. Margaret's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 90% of U.S. towns.
Margaret has grown 59% since 2010
4,428 counted in 2010 and 5,106 in 2020; an estimated 7,149 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 38.1% since 2020, after 15.3% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How Margaret grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Alabama), ordered by how far Margaret is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Margaret: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Margaret, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Margaret.
Margaret trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and looks healthier within Alabama than nationally, but it has little public open land.
Margaret stands out in Alabama and nationally: a smaller share of its working residents work locally
Margaret has 157 jobs for its 2,416 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 33.1 minutes, against 25.5 across Alabama.
0.5% of working residents work locally in Margaret, below both the Alabama town median (10%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Jobs based in Margaret grew to 157 in 2023, 148 more than in 2013. The average trip to work in Margaret is 33 minutes.
| Margaret | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.7% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $102,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.5% | 10% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Public schools in Margaret beat 54% of Alabama districts
Its public schools are run by the St Clair County school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Margaret ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 707 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AL on state tests and graduation
Younger than Alabama overall
The median household earns $101,802, against $63,999 across Alabama, one input to its A for jobs and income.
People 65 and older are 9% of residents (18% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 29% of residents (22% statewide). Margaret’s median age is 32.8 years, below both Alabama’s towns (39.2 years) and U.S. towns (40.5 years). Margaret has grown 38% since 2020, to 7,149 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Margaret | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 8.5% | 18% | 18% |
| Median age | 32.8 years | 39.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 25% | 23% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 20% | 23% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.9 points. Across Alabama, 51.4% of residents are women.
| Margaret | AL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14.4% | 11.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.3% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.5% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 24.6% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.8% | 12.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.8% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 5% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.5% | 7.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12.1% | 11.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 38.2% | 30.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.4% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 12.7% | 17.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.5% | 11.1% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
In Margaret, expect mild winters and hot summers
Margaret has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Margaret’s July high is 90°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Property crime in Margaret is lower than in most of Alabama or the rest of the country
Only 1 of the 138 Alabama towns we compare have a lower property crime rate than Margaret. Margaret's reported crime rate is well below Alabama's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Margaret | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2 per 1,000 residents | 17 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.8 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Inland flooding leads a moderate hazard risk in Margaret
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 54% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Margaret is healthier than 51% of U.S. towns
Within Alabama it is healthier than 73% of the 187 graded towns: much of Alabama scores lower on these measures. Against the 8,325 U.S. towns with household incomes like Margaret’s, it is less healthy than 74%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Margaret beats the Alabama average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 38% of Margaret adults feel lonely.
| Margaret | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 36% | 33% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 12% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Margaret | AL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.9% | 7.3% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.8% | 4.1% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 72.9% | 78% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
A home in Margaret sells for about $255K at the median
Homes are within reach (B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 21 miles.
87% of households own their home in Margaret.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Conserved land covers 0% of Margaret
Just 0 of its 6,265 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Margaret itself; its outdoors grade is D.
0.4 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wilson Park | — | 6 |
| 2. Dillard Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Margaret
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Margaret
About 3 of every 100 Margaret residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Alabama.
100% of working residents leave Margaret for work
Where Margaret’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Margaret
City in Alabama, United States
Margaret is a city in St. Clair County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 5,106. As of the 2010 census, the population was 4,428, an increase of 278.8%. Margaret incorporated in 1960 and became a city in October 2011.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 9.8 sq mi
- Elevation
- 699 ft
- ZIP code
- 35112
- Area code
- 205
Margaret’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Margaret.
Trussville next door grades higher for schools (A+ to Margaret’s B−) and lower for cost of living (C+ to B+).
| Town | AL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margaret | #43 | B+ | B+ | — | B− | B− |
| Argo | #2 | A | A | A− | B− | B+ |
| Odenville | #80 | C | B− | B− | B− | B− |
| Trussville | #21 | A− | C+ | C+ | A+ | A |
Margaret reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Margaret with a neighbor →
Questions about Margaret
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Margaret, AL a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Margaret grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #43 of 187 in Alabama. It grades B− for health and B− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Margaret, AL expensive?
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $231,000, 3% below the Alabama typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
What is Margaret, AL known for?
2 notable people were born here, including Oliver W. Dillard and Sammy Price.