Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Russellville gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $178K for a typical one, or 3.3 years of the Russellville area’s $53K median household income. It grades C overall, 82nd of 187 graded towns in Alabama. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 97% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and the median household income is $58K, and 20% of residents live below the poverty line. 23% of working residents work locally in Russellville, against 9.8% in Alabama’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Alabama Iron Works and Russellville Commercial Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 71% of U.S. towns.
Where Russellville beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| Widest gap | Russellville | AL |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 22.2% | 9.9% |
9,830 counted in 2010 and 10,855 in 2020; an estimated 10,904 in 2025.
Growth has leveled off: within 1% of 2020, after 10.4% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Alabama), ordered by how far Russellville is from typical.
Its grades run from A for cost of living (better than 93% of comparable towns) to D− for health (better than 3%), so the C overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 180 in 1870, 10,855 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 4 maps from 1936 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Russellville, 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 Russellville.
Russellville trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, has seen reported crime fall by a third or more and has hotter summers than most of the country, though not than most of Alabama.
22% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Russellville. Among 187 Alabama towns, just 5 have a lower share of adults who had a checkup this year than Russellville. 33% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Russellville.
| Russellville | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 23% | 19% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 19% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 10% | 8.1% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 30% | 25% |
| What stands out | Russellville | AL |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 22.2% | 9.9% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 26% | 15.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 31.9% | 19.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Russellville City school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Russellville High School, with 753 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 686 | – |
| Russellville High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 753 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AL on state tests and graduation
Homes are within reach (about $178K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 20 miles. Values fell 2.1% in the past year while the Alabama typical home rose 1.9%.
The median rent in Russellville is $685 a month. The typical Russellville home is worth about $178,000, 25% below the Alabama typical home.
| Russellville | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $685 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
July afternoons average 89.5°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 83% of Alabama places with climate records; January nights average 30.5°.
Russellville has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Russellville’s July high is 90°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Russellville | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 90°F | 91°F | 85°F |
| January low | 31°F | 33°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Reported crimes fell from 276 to 166 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Within Alabama, it does better than 67% of towns.
| Russellville | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13.6 per 1,000 residents | 17 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.9 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
About one in 4 of Russellville’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Russellville has added 547 jobs, to 4,447 in 2023. The top destinations are Muscle Shoals (7%), Florence (5%) and Red Bay (3%).
| Russellville | Alabama towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $58,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
0.3 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is John Blackwell Park, at 103 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. John Blackwell Park | — | 103 |
| 2. City Lake Park | — | 21 |
| 3. Russellville Recreation Center | — | 19 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 2015, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Russellville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Russellville; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Russellville residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Alabama.
17 notable people were born in Russellville.
City in Alabama, United States
Russellville is a city in Franklin County in the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2020 census, the population of the city was 10,855, up from 9,830 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Franklin County.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Russellville grades C overall, better than 34% of U.S. towns and #82 of 187 in Alabama. It grades D− for health, C+ for safety and B+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within Alabama, it does better than 67% of towns.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
17 notable people were born here, including Sonequa Martin-Green and Gustav Hasford.