Goodwater, Alabama.
Typical home $133,199 (+4.4% in a year). Alexander City, AL metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$316 (+83%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $5,553 +4%
- $127,646$133,199 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $1,767 +1%
- $131,432$133,199 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Goodwater$699
- Alabama$1,252
- United States$1,922
Typical home values in Goodwater, AL rose 4.4% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Goodwater, Clay County, Alabama
Goodwater is a town of 1,291 people in Clay County. Unemployment in Clay County was 4.2% in August 2026, and the county had 0.1% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Clay County work in manufacturing, then schools and health care.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Goodwater is a small town in Clay County, Alabama, where neighbors are likely to know one another. Homes here are modestly priced, and household incomes across the county run on the lower side. Few adults in town hold a four-year degree. Winters are mild and short, with only a dusting of snow in a typical year, while summers are hot and the year brings plenty of rain.
Work. Residents work mostly in manufacturing, in schools, hospitals and social care, in the building trades, and in transport, warehouses and utilities. Across Clay County, some of the largest workplaces are Wellborn Cabinet, Koch Foods of Alabama and Clay County Schools. Unemployment across the county is higher than it was a year ago, and the number of jobs there has slipped slightly.
Things to do. For time on the water, Lake Martin is a reservoir within a longer drive, as is Lake Wedowee. Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, an archaeological site, is also a longer drive away and suits those interested in the area's history. Wind Creek State Park is a protected area, likewise a longer drive from town.
Report a mistake
- 5%of adults have a degree
What people in Clay County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Clay County had 4,238 jobs in 2025, 0.1% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 56° and lows near 32°; warmest in July, with highs near 91° and lows near 70°. About 1 inches of snow and 57 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Alexander City weather station, 10 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Clay County
- Wellborn CabinetKitchen cabinets, stock or custom wood, manufacturing1,340
- Koch Foods of AlabamaChickens, slaughtering and dressing480
- Integrity CabinetsBathroom vanities, stock or custom wood, manufacturing217
- Clay County SchoolsSchool district188FTE
- Clay County HospitalGeneral hospital163FTE
- Lineville Health and RehabilitationSkilled nursing facility116
- Integrity Cabinets AceCabinets, kitchen, stock or custom wood, manufacturing55
- Integrity Cabinets LLC AshlandCabinets, kitchen, stock or custom wood, manufacturing44
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 6 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 2,252 people in all across the county; Goodwater has two of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Strong windRelatively high
- TornadoesRelatively high
- LightningRelatively high
- WildfireRelatively moderate
- Heat wavesRelatively moderate
- Cold wavesRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Goodwater’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Clay County and the Alexander City, AL metro.
Goodwater home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Goodwater$133,199
- Alabama$238,614
- United States$366,157
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Goodwater11
Zip codes with a Goodwater address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Goodwater — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.