Best Birmingham suburbs for schools

Ranked almost entirely on the Schools category — within-state proficiency, student–teacher ratio, graduation rate and schools nearby — with the two poll questions about children and teenagers at 20% once a place has enough responses.

Updated Sep 2026·22 suburbs considered, 10 listed

Mountain Brook$916k median · 16.4 min commute

Schools A+Cost of living FResidents inactive

Schools score
overall 75 B

Homewood$559k median · 17.1 min commute

Schools A+Cost of living C−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 78 B+

Welcome to Vestavia Hills Alabama with Sybil Temple as enter town from Highway 31 (Montgomery Highway)

Vestavia Hills$530k median · 19.3 min commute

Schools A−Cost of living D+Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 72 B−

Hoover$412k median · 25.2 min commute

Schools A−Cost of living CResidents inactive

Schools score
overall 71 B−

Trussville$370k median · 26.6 min commute

Schools A−Cost of living CResidents inactive

Schools score
overall 66 C+

Alabaster$262k median · 30.6 min commute

Schools BCost of living B−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 64 C+

Buildings on Highway 31 in Calera, Alabama, part of the Calera Downtown Historic District

Calera$235k median · 33.0 min commute

Schools BCost of living B−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 60 C

Chelsea$360k median · 33.2 min commute

Schools BCost of living B−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 57 C−

Pelham$300k median · 28.6 min commute

Schools B−Cost of living B−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 59 C

Jasper$216k median · 26.8 min commute

Schools B−Cost of living B+Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 55 C−

This list's weighting

Schools 80%Resident poll (Q5, Q6) 20%

Poll components only count for places with eight or more resident responses; for the others the remaining weights re-normalise to 100%.

Other Birmingham lists

Best Birmingham suburbs for families Most affordable Birmingham suburbs Shortest commutes to Downtown Birmingham Most walkable Birmingham suburbs Best Birmingham suburbs for young professionals How we score Birmingham suburbs →

Photos from Wikimedia Commons: Mountain Brook (Robert Donovan from Franklin, TN, USA · CC BY 2.0); Vestavia Hills (Sharon Phelan Evans · CC BY-SA 3.0); Hoover (Johntrinh06 · CC BY 4.0); Trussville (Harrison Keely · CC BY 4.0); Alabaster (AlabasterPIO · CC BY-SA 4.0); Calera (Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0); Chelsea (Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0); Jasper (Bamassippi (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0).