City · Etowah County, Alabama

Rainbow City, Alabama

Rainbow City is a city in Etowah County, Alabama, part of the Gadsden, AL metro area. It has 10,284 residents. Rainbow City, Alabama has a quality-of-life score of 10 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,136 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Alabama it ranks #205 of 319 cities and towns. It ranks best on effective property tax rate (low), pharmacies (high) and social associations (high). It ranks worst on preventable hospital stays (high), mammography screening (low) and life expectancy (low).

10Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,136 of 15,651 cities and towns
Alabama: #205 of 319 in AL
Population: 10,284 (2020-2024)
Land area: 26 mi²
Density: 400.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 0163288

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety24#11,950/15,637
Economy17#12,984/15,631
Housing43#8,542/14,977
Health11#13,960/15,609
Healthcare19#12,629/15,650
Environment50#7,690/15,453
Education12#13,767/15,649
Infrastructure33#10,502/15,650
Community16#13,118/15,651
Leisure & amenities16#13,161/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Rainbow City, Alabama ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Etowah County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Effective property tax rate · low0.32%
96/100Alabama 0.37%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Pharmacies · high2.5 /10k
90/100Alabama 2.3 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEtowah County value
Social associations · high14.2 /10k
88/100Alabama 11.6 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEtowah County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Alabama 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEtowah County value
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyEtowah County value
Child care cost burden · low23.0%
84/100Alabama 25.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEtowah County value

Weaknesses

Preventable hospital stays · high4,630 /100k
3/100Alabama 3,481 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEtowah County value
Mammography screening · low32.0%
3/100Alabama 43.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEtowah County value
Life expectancy · low70.8 yrs
4/100Alabama 73.8 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEtowah County value
Premature death · high14,214 /100k
6/100Alabama 11,613 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEtowah County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.541
7/100Alabama 0.479United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Food environment index · low6.4
7/100Alabama 5.6United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEtowah County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
9,589 (2015-2019) → 10,284 (2020-2024)
+7.2%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
6.7 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
24.5% (2015-2019) → 42.6% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
44.7% (2015-2019) → 58.1% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
22.5% (2015-2019) → 9.7% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
30.0% (2015-2019) → 20.8% (2020-2024)
−9.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Rainbow City, Alabama improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+5.3 points84.5% → 89.8%

Declined2

Rent / income+18 points24.5% → 42.6%
Bachelor's+−9.2 points30.0% → 20.8%

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Rainbow City, Alabama between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.4 min2015-2019	26.7 min2020-2024	+5.2 min	Within the margin of error	9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	30.0%2015-2019	20.8%2020-2024	−9.2 points	Declined	2%
Broadband subscriptions	84.5%2015-2019	89.8%2020-2024	+5.3 points	Improved	33%
Effective property tax rate	0.35%2015-2019	0.32%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	20%
High school diploma or higher	91.9%2015-2019	83.4%2020-2024	−8.5 points	Within the margin of error	2%
Home price to income ratio	3.3×2015-2019	4.0×2020-2024	+0.7×	Within the margin of error	38%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4412015-2019	0.5422020-2024	+0.100	Within the margin of error	4%
Median household income	$50,5472015-2019	$56,3982020-2024	+12%	Within the margin of error	19%
Poverty rate	11.4%2015-2019	10.0%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Rent as share of income	24.5%2015-2019	42.6%2020-2024	+18 points	Declined	3%
Rent-burdened households	44.7%2015-2019	58.1%2020-2024	+13 points	Within the margin of error	17%
Unemployment rate	5.0%2015-2019	10.3%2020-2024	+5.3 points	Within the margin of error	3%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.3%2015-2019	12.9%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	21%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Rainbow City, Alabama five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Rainbow City, Alabama in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Rainbow City, Alabama itself moved −27.7 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

10,284 residents (±44)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

4,131 households (±323)

Rainbow City, Alabama
Alabama share

Under $25k22%912
$25k–50k23%940
$50k–75k19%771

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

4,131 households (±323)

Rainbow City, Alabama
Alabama share

Own66%2,711
Rent34%1,420

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

3,948 workers (±514)

Rainbow City, Alabama
Alabama share

Drive alone78%3,094
Carpool11%†434
Public transit1.4%†54

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Gadsden, AL

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Etowah County, the county holding most of Rainbow City's residents.

Etowah County has 1,954 employer establishments, 189 for every 10,000 residents (0.76× the US rate of 248; 0.92× Alabama's), with 28,155 paid employees at an average annual pay of $42,012. The Census Bureau also counts 8,601 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,954; 8,601 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 189; US 248 · Alabama 207
Paid employees: 28,155
Average annual pay: $42,012; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Etowah County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	223	21.6	1.04×About typical	2,781	$66,986	364
Restaurants and other eating places	170	16.5	0.90×About typical	3,529	$17,177	57
Religious organizations	121	11.7	2.11×More than typical	737	$17,347	—
Specialty trade contractors	107	10.4	0.67×Fewer than typical	742	$57,519	864
Limited-service restaurants	97	9.4	1.17×About typical	2,020	$16,502	18
Offices of physicians	82	7.9	1.23×About typical	1,029	$93,123	64
Gasoline stations	70	6.8	2.09×More than typical	337	$24,727	9
Building equipment contractors	66	6.4	1.06×About typical	514	$58,198	201
Full-service restaurants	63	6.1	0.79×Fewer than typical	1,419	$18,227	27
Lessors of real estate	46	4.5	0.36×Fewer than typical	139	$34,460	589
Offices of other health practitioners	46	4.5	0.73×Fewer than typical	637	$46,887	118
Services to buildings and dwellings	45	4.4	0.65×Fewer than typical	584	$40,123	817

Rank places for an industry Open Etowah County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 103,227 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $5M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Rainbow City, Alabama: $489 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $5M; +26% vs FY2025
Per resident: $489; US $1,994
Sole-source: 1.4%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

TYSON FOODS INC.$4.9M98%
APEX PROSTHETICS AND PEDIATRIC ORTHOTICS, LLC$71K1.4%
GADSDEN INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTORS, INC$30.4K0.6%

Spending by fiscal year

17.7MFY2017
4.4MFY2018
2.7MFY2019
2.7MFY2020
1.1MFY2021
35.1MFY2022
13.3MFY2023
6.2M

Top industries (NAICS)

Animal slaughtering and processing · 3116$4.9M98%
Medical equipment and supplies manufacturing · 3391$71K1.4%
Commercial and service industry machinery manufacturing · 3333$15.6K0.3%
Machinery, equipment, and supplies merchant wholesalers · 4238$14.7K0.3%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Rainbow City, Alabama

COMMODITIES FOR USG FOOD DONATIONS: 2000011311/4100034290/CHICKEN FILLETS UNBRD FRZ CTN-30 LB,CHICKEN STRIPS FRZ CTN-30 LB$4.1M
TYSON FOODS INC.· Etowah County, AL· Other equipment & supplies· May 21, 2026 – Sep 11, 2026· 123J1426C1222
COMMODITIES FOR USG FOOD DONATIONS: 2000010977/4400002414/4100032826/CHICKEN FAJITA STRIPS CTN-30 LB$1.6M
TYSON FOODS INC.· Etowah County, AL· Other equipment & supplies· Aug 27, 2025 – Oct 29, 2025· 123J1425F1826
COMMODITIES FOR USG FOOD DONATIONS: 2000011286/4100034294/CHICKEN PULLED CKD FRZ CTN-30 LB$1.3M
TYSON FOODS INC.· Etowah County, AL· Other equipment & supplies· May 21, 2026 – Jun 26, 2026· 123J1426C1226

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Rainbow City, Alabama, so they do not add up across cities.

Rainbow City, Alabama's figures are part of those of Etowah County, AL ($12.8M in FY2026), never added to them: 39% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Rainbow City is mostly in Etowah County.

See federal money in Etowah County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Rainbow City, Alabama is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Mike RogersR-AL-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 3.1%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Etowah County20100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Gadsden, AL15

Other cities and towns in Etowah County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/0163288

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends