Best cities for sports in Alabama

BookrGo Best Sport Cities ranking: we rank the cities of Alabama by their 0-10 sports score, which combines density of centers per resident, variety of sports, listing quality and real activity. To keep the comparison fair, we measure every city's offering with the same sources of national coverage. An honest way to see where it's easiest (and hardest) to find somewhere to play.

205 scorable cities in Alabama.

#	City	Score /10	Centers
1	Pelham	8.5	98
2	Mobile	8.3	359
3	Dothan	8.2	165
4	Foley	8.2	68
5	Irondale	8.1	29
6	Enterprise	8.0	69
7	Anniston	8.0	61
8	Opelika	8.0	56
9	Gulf Shores	7.9	128
10	Decatur	7.8	102
11	Vestavia Hills	7.8	88
12	Montgomery	7.7	329
13	Orange Beach	7.7	117
14	Jasper	7.7	40
15	Huntsville	7.6	544
16	Daphne	7.5	104
17	Athens	7.5	74
18	Fairhope	7.5	59
19	Eufaula	7.5	31
20	Hoover	7.4	187
21	Homewood	7.4	86
22	Trussville	7.3	83
23	Jacksonville	7.3	41
24	Boaz	7.3	31
25	Auburn	7.2	211
26	Madison	7.2	209
27	Tuscumbia	7.2	23
28	Andalusia	7.2	21
29	Northport	7.1	52
30	Rainbow City	7.1	27
31	Birmingham	7.0	623
32	Tuscaloosa	7.0	249
33	Florence	7.0	116
34	Alabaster	7.0	46
35	Winfield	7.0	11
36	Phenix City	6.9	58
37	Oxford	6.9	45
38	Talladega	6.9	26
39	Opp	6.9	16
40	Cullman	6.8	70
41	Pell City	6.8	44
42	Greenville	6.8	18
43	Ozark	6.8	17
44	Prattville	6.7	94
45	Wetumpka	6.7	51
46	Fort Payne	6.7	31
47	Sylacauga	6.7	29
48	Arab	6.7	24
49	Atmore	6.7	13
50	Albertville	6.6	27
51	Gardendale	6.5	44
52	Saraland	6.5	26
53	Selma	6.5	21
54	Bessemer	6.4	68
55	Troy	6.4	35
56	Alexander City	6.4	30
57	Hamilton	6.4	13
58	Moulton	6.3	21
59	Millbrook	6.2	32
60	Oneonta	6.2	26
61	Thomasville	6.2	12
62	Mountain Brook	6.1	34
63	Hartselle	6.1	32
64	Geneva	6.1	9
65	Owens Cross Roads	6.0	26
66	Hazel Green	6.0	20
67	Brewton	6.0	13
68	Gadsden	5.9	89
69	Headland	5.9	15
70	Haleyville	5.9	13
71	Livingston	5.9	10
72	Roanoke	5.9	9
73	Pinson	5.8	16
74	Jackson	5.8	15
75	Guntersville	5.7	56
76	Montevallo	5.7	20
77	Dora	5.7	17
78	Warrior	5.7	12
79	Bay Minette	5.6	17
80	Russellville	5.6	16
81	Clanton	5.5	25
82	Rainsville	5.5	15
83	Alexandria	5.5	10
84	Theodore	5.5	9
85	Hanceville	5.5	8
86	Helena	5.4	20
87	Scottsboro	5.3	43
88	Centre	5.3	18
89	Sheffield	5.3	8
90	Muscle Shoals	5.2	47
91	Semmes	5.1	9
92	Chelsea	5.0	27
93	Springville	5.0	24
94	Moody	5.0	24
95	Pike Road	5.0	21
96	Robertsdale	5.0	20
97	Demopolis	5.0	14
98	Valley	4.8	14
99	Heflin	4.8	12
100	Lexington	4.8	7

How do we calculate the score?

Variety (25%) — how many different sports the city covers.
Quality (20%) — richness of each center's information.
Activity (20%) — real user interest over the last 30 days.
Scale (15%) — number of centers in the city.
Density (10%) — centers per resident (dampened).
Courts (10%) — total capacity: number of courts.

Each section is measured as a percentile against the other cities in the United States and combined into the final score, on a 0-10 scale. Variety and density are measured with a uniform instrument (only sources with homogeneous national coverage) so that no city is favored by having a more complete open catalog. We only score cities with population data and a presence in those sources.