UPDATE: Check out our new 2023 Best Cities to Live in the U.S. list.
#8. Alabaster
In the past three presidential elections, votes for the Republican candidate outnumbered votes for the Democrat candidate two to one in Alabaster. In fact, in the 2012 election, Mitt Romney won 77 percent of the vote in Alabaster and Shelby County. Alabaster has voted Republican in every presidential contest since 1980, and 75 percent of Alabaster’s registered voters identify themselves as Republicans. Alabaster voters are politically active and more likely than not to vote in state and national elections – just a few of the reasons the Birmingham suburb took the top spot on the 2014 List of the Best Cities for Conservatives.
The Best Places to Live in Alabama
Alabaster residents are serious about the Second Amendment. In 2014, resident John David Murphy challenged the state’s gun laws by attempting to enter a polling place with a holstered pistol. The move caused Alabama Gun Rights Inc. to call on the Shelby County sheriff to permanently lift the prohibition of firearms at polling places. Alabama is a state known for its pro-gun laws and heavy gun ownership. It ranks seventh in the nation for number of guns per capita (20 per 1,000 individuals).
Many of Alabaster residents consider themselves pro-life. One of the champions of the pro-life movement, Bob Foust, is from Alabaster. He founded Choose Life Alabama and later went on to serve as executive director of the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition Education Fund.
One of the wealthier suburbs of Birmingham, the median income for a family is $78,940, with only 4.3 percent of families falling below the poverty line. Alabaster residents believe in the sanctity of marriage. Of the city’s 11,000 or so households, 68 percent are married couples, and only 8.9 percent are single, female-led households.
Birmingham: One of the 10 Best Downtowns in America
Alabaster residents are religious. Eighty-four percent of residents are affiliated with a religion, compared to 48 percent nationwide. Alabaster also boasts excellent schools. Alabaster City Schools branched off from the Shelby County School system in 2013, and for good reason, as Alabaster’s schools rank higher than the county’s schools.