Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Montevallo gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $250K for a typical one, or 3.5 years of the Birmingham metro’s $71K median household income. It grades A− overall, 20th among Alabama's 187 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $57K, and 18% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, its schools outperform 83% of the state's. Montevallo’s median age is 26 years, below both Alabama’s towns (39.2 years) and U.S. towns (40.5 years). On walkability, just 7 of Alabama’s 308 towns do better. Montevallo is home to University of Montevallo.
Where Montevallo beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Montevallo Elementary School | K–5 | 758 |
| Montevallo Middle School | 6–8 | 346 |
| Montevallo High School | 9–12 | 485 |
Its founding year, 1815, comes before those of 94% of the Alabama towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 402 in 1880, 7,229 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1933 and 3 maps from 1910 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Alabama), ordered by how far Montevallo is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Montevallo, 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 Montevallo.
Montevallo pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices, trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and fares better on crime within Alabama than nationally.
29.9% of residents are enrolled in college, against 6.3% statewide, which pulls the median age down.
Adults 18 to 34 are 43% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 27% of residents (38% statewide). 17% of residents are under 18 in Montevallo. Montevallo has grown 8.9% since 2020, to 7,872 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Montevallo | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 17% | 23% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 31% | 23% | 29% |
58% women, 42% men
About 71 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±4.4 points). Across Alabama, 51.4% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 64% are women (AL 50%).
| Montevallo | AL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.8% | 11.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.7% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 31.4% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.3% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8% | 12.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.1% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.4% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.1% | 7.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.1% | 11.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.8% | 30.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.2% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.5% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.1% | 17.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.4% | 11.1% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Its A− for schools comes with an A− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $250K.
Its public schools are run by the Shelby County school district. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Montevallo High School, with 485 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montevallo Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 758 | B+ |
| Montevallo High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 485 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AL on state tests and graduation
1.9 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Shoal Creek Park, at 178 acres.
| Montevallo | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.1% | 1.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Shoal Creek Park | — | 178 |
| 2. Orr Park | — | 23 |
| 3. Bolton-Orr Ecological Preserve at Ebenezer Wetlands | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Montevallo has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Montevallo is 91°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 65% of U.S. communities. Since 2009, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Montevallo.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 13.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 89% of Alabama’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 9 reported in 2025, 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
Montevallo’s property crime rate is 6.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Montevallo | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.5 per 1,000 residents | 17 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Jobs based here grew from 1,156 in 2013 to 2,021.
Most working residents leave Montevallo for work: only 9% work in town. Since 2013, Montevallo has added 865 jobs, to 2,021 in 2023. The top destinations are Birmingham (13%), Alabaster (11%) and Hoover (9%).
| Montevallo | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $57,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 9.7% | 6.7% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Homes are within reach (about $250K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 21 miles.
60% of Montevallo renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent. The typical Montevallo home is worth about $250,000, up 4% in a year, close to the Alabama typical home. 65% of Montevallo households own their home.
| Montevallo | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 60% | 46% | 48% |
| Households that own their home | 65% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $956 a month | $940 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 7,902 U.S. towns with household incomes like Montevallo’s, it is healthier than 83%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income. Within Alabama it is healthier than 74% of the 187 graded towns: much of Alabama scores lower on these measures.
Montevallo beats the Alabama average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. Of the 187 Alabama towns we compare, none has a lower share of adults who had a checkup this year than Montevallo.
| Montevallo | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 36% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 77% | 80% | 79% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 12% |
| What stands out | Montevallo | AL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.4% | 7.3% |
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 11% | 14.8% |
| More adults in frequent mental distress | 20.1% | 17.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Montevallo. Close and well known come first.
27 mi Stadium & arenaLegion Field
28 mi Stadium & arenaProtective Stadium
28 mi MuseumSloss Furnaces
28 mi Stadium & arenaLegacy Arena20 mi Theme parkAlabama Adventure & Splash Adventure6 mi MuseumHeart of Dixie Railroad MuseumLegion Field: USGS, Public domain · Protective Stadium: Unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sloss Furnaces: DXR, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Legacy Arena: AuburnShuffle, CC0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Montevallo
College town 30 of every 100 Montevallo residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Alabama.
6 places in Montevallo on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Montevallo.
City in Alabama, United States
Montevallo is a city in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. A college town, it is the home of the University of Montevallo, a public liberal arts university with approximately 3,000 students. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city of Montevallo is 7,229.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Montevallo.
| Town | AL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montevallo | #20 | A− | A− | B | A− | B− |
| Wilton | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Wilton isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Montevallo with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Montevallo grades A− overall, better than 80% of U.S. towns and #20 of 187 in Alabama. It grades B− for health, B for safety and A− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a C−.
7 notable people were born here, including Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. and Andrew Jackson Caldwell.
