These Are The 10 Most Miserable Cities In Alabama


We used science and data to determine which cities in Alabama are the unhappiest of all.

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Do you live in one of the most miserable places in Alabama?

According to a Harris Poll taken in October of 2015, only a third of Americans say they are truly happy. That’s too bad, considering that Americans – especially folks in Alabama – don’t really have it too bad, in the grand scheme of things.

But, we were curious – which Alabama cities might be the most miserable? We’re about to find out, using science and data.

After analyzing the largest cities, we sadly present the most miserable cities in the Heart Of Dixie:

  1. Evergreen
  2. Prichard
  3. Livingston
  4. Brighton
  5. Birmingham (Photos)
  6. Selma (Photos)
  7. Russellville
  8. Bessemer
  9. Atmore (Photos)
  10. Marion

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked. If you have a smile on your face, you probably don’t live in one of these cities.

Oh, and by the way, Mountain Brook is the happiest place in Alabama.

Or check out the Most Miserable Cities In America.

If you’re looking for something more positive, check out the best states in America or the best places to live in America.

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How We Measured The Most Miserable Cities In Alabama

In order to rank the unhappiest places in Alabama, we had to determine what criteria makes people happy. It isn’t a stretch to assume that happy people earn great salaries, are relatively stress free, and have a stable home life.

So we went to the Census’s American Community Survey 2010-2014 report for the criteria, flipped the list, and it spit out the answer. Like magic.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:

  • Percentage of residents with a college degree
  • Average commute times
  • Unemployment rates
  • Cost of living
  • % of married couples
  • % of home owners
  • Poverty rate

After we decided on the criteria, we gathered the data for the 108 places in Alabama with over 2,000 people.

We then ranked each place from one to 108 for each of the seven criteria with a score of one being the most miserable (Any ties were given to the larger place).

Next, we averaged the seven rankings into a Miserable Index for each place with the lowest overall Miserable Index ‘earning’ the title ‘Most Miserable City In Alabama’.

If you’d like to see the complete list of states, most miserable to happiest, scroll to the bottom of this post to see the unabridged chart.

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1. Evergreen

Evergreen, Alabama

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 3,864
People Who Own Their Home: 35.18%
Married Adults: 28.19%

2. Prichard

Prichard, Alabama

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 22,475
People Who Own Their Home: 44.76%
Married Adults: 25.97%

3. Livingston

Livingston, Alabama

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 3,465
People Who Own Their Home: 35.3%
Married Adults: 27.26%

4. Brighton

Brighton, Alabama

Source: Google Maps

Population: 2,918
People Who Own Their Home: 43.37%
Married Adults: 30.5%

5. Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 211,705
People Who Own Their Home: 38.73%
Married Adults: 28.25%

6. Selma

Selma, Alabama

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 20,276
People Who Own Their Home: 38.71%
Married Adults: 23.7%

7. Russellville


Population: 9,836
People Who Own Their Home: 46.27%
Married Adults: 41.9%

8. Bessemer

Bessemer, Alabama

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 27,202
People Who Own Their Home: 47.57%
Married Adults: 32.59%

9. Atmore

Atmore, Alabama

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 10,096
People Who Own Their Home: 49.65%
Married Adults: 30.79%

10. Marion

Marion, Alabama

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 3,587
People Who Own Their Home: 39.76%
Married Adults: 21.48%

There You Have It

Like we said earlier, trying to determine the most miserable cities in {state} is usually a subjective matter. But if you’re analyzing cities where people are not stable, where you’re stuck in traffic, and no one spent the time to go to college, then this is an accurate list.

If you’re curious enough, here are the happiest cities in {state}, according to science:
For more Alabama reading , check out:

Detailed List Of Miserable Places In Alabama

City Rank People Who Own Their Home
Evergreen 1 35.18%
Prichard 2 44.76%
Livingston 3 35.3%
Brighton 4 43.37%
Birmingham 5 38.73%
Selma 6 38.71%
Russellville 7 46.27%
Bessemer 8 47.57%
Atmore 9 49.65%
Marion 10 39.76%
Hartford 11 54.22%
Holt 12 50.04%
Gadsden 13 48.22%
Anniston 14 44.18%
Jacksonville 15 42.19%
Greensboro 16 51.88%
Geneva 17 56.6%
York 18 55.27%
Talladega 19 47.26%
Phenix City 20 41.86%
Mobile 21 47.93%
Jackson 22 52.95%
Fairfield 23 49.29%
Clayton 24 54.97%
Sylacauga 25 51.72%
Center Point 26 49.22%
Abbeville 27 59.55%
Alexander City 28 50.15%
Camden 29 55.15%
Oneonta 30 48.85%
Ashland 31 45.98%
Greenville 32 49.39%
Valley 33 50.76%
Pell City 34 52.61%
Tuscaloosa 35 35.9%
Roanoke 36 48.38%
Troy 37 42.24%
Eufaula 38 51.55%
Wilsonville 39 63.41%
Linden 40 54.33%
Bridgeport 41 50.24%
Columbiana 42 57.43%
Jasper 43 56.15%
Vernon 44 50.77%
Montgomery 45 49.6%
Fort Payne 46 53.13%
Tillmans Corner 47 60.91%
Auburn 48 38.31%
Butler 49 48.06%
Irondale 50 63.48%
Centreville 51 52.2%
Foley 52 51.79%
Decatur 53 54.99%
Crossville 54 58.38%
Piedmont 55 56.88%
Glencoe 56 61.45%
Huntsville 57 52.9%
Cullman 58 52.78%
Brent 59 48.12%
Florence 60 50.67%
New Hope 61 65.39%
Hamilton 62 57.84%
Thomasville 63 51.7%
Opelika 64 52.53%
Ozark 65 54.37%
Taylor 66 61.99%
Athens 67 60.02%
Albertville 68 55.26%
Hueytown 69 68.39%
Dothan 70 51.74%
Forestdale 71 70.92%
Holtville 72 76.0%
Saks 73 64.36%
Lincoln 74 63.2%
Daphne 75 56.77%
Oxford 76 64.03%
Hartselle 77 67.8%
Homewood 78 47.73%
Alabaster 79 78.0%
Scottsboro 80 63.25%
Enterprise 81 52.9%
Winfield 82 57.39%
Good Hope 83 66.99%
Leeds 84 67.44%
Alexandria 85 82.83%
Calera 86 72.85%
Saraland 87 64.9%
Prattville 88 62.34%
Kimberly 89 84.23%
Fairhope 90 62.73%
Pelham 91 77.83%
Millbrook 92 61.22%
Northport 93 60.82%
Pleasant Grove 94 85.37%
Moody 95 73.14%
Hoover 96 61.65%
Redland 97 82.7%
Helena 98 87.36%
Springville 99 83.49%
Chelsea 100 87.23%
Muscle Shoals 101 71.53%
Meadowbrook 102 73.94%
Trussville 103 82.79%
Trinity 104 80.02%
Gardendale 105 76.81%
Madison 106 65.76%
Vestavia Hills 107 68.07%
Mountain Brook 108 80.55%

About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.