West End, Birmingham: homes, schools, parks and commute

Last checked Oct. 17, 2026. Sources: the City of Birmingham’s 23 communities and 99 neighborhoods list and neighborhood boundary files, its comprehensive plan (PDF) and parks list; Birmingham City Schools’ Find My Zone; the Alabama State Department of Education’s state report card for 2025; Zillow Research; MAX Transit’s schedule data; and OpenStreetMap.

West End is one of the city’s 23 communities, with five neighborhoods: Arlington-West End, Germania Park, Oakwood Place, Rising-West Princeton and West End Manor. This page covers Arlington-West End, about 1,100 acres southwest of downtown along Tuscaloosa Avenue. The city’s comprehensive plan says West End began in the late 1800s as one of the city’s new working-class suburbs, and it lists West End as a “priority choice” for strategic action, citing mixed-use commercial on Tuscaloosa Avenue, a future Valley Creek greenway and “good housing stock for potential rehab.” Arlington, the antebellum house at 331 Cotton Ave. SW, is inside the neighborhood.

What this means for you

• Zoned high school: Parker High in the northern part (2025 state report card: 66, a D); Wenonah High in the southern part (73, a C).
• Home value: $73,479 in ZIP 35211 in September 2026, according to the Zillow Home Value Index.
• Nearest interstate exit: I-65 exit 259 (University Boulevard), about 4 miles by road.

Part of our Birmingham neighborhoods guide.

Where it is

On the city’s boundary map Arlington-West End has Graymont to the north, North Titusville to the east, West End Manor to the south and Oakwood Place to the west. Tuscaloosa Avenue runs through it. Almost all of it is in ZIP code 35211, with a sliver in 35204.

Schools

We checked 47 points across the neighborhood in the district’s Find My Zone tool. The neighborhood is split: 28 points, in the northern part, returned one set of schools and 19, in the southern part, another. Scores are each school’s overall score on the 2025 state report card (the 2024-25 school year).

Hemphill Elementary is inside the neighborhood. Because the zone line runs through it, check one address in Find My Zone or on the district’s zoning page before you sign a lease. Birmingham City Schools as a whole scored 77 (C). More in our schools guide.

Home values

The typical home value in ZIP code 35211 was $73,479 in September 2026, down 3.8% from $76,348 in September 2025, according to the Zillow Home Value Index. The index is a modeled typical value for the middle third of homes, not a sale price. 35211 is much larger than the neighborhood, so it is not an Arlington-West End figure alone. The citywide figure was $134,165, down 2.4%. More in our home prices and property taxes guides.

Parks and trails

From the city’s parks list, with the acreage it gives:

• Woodward Park, 8.8 acres, inside the neighborhood.
• Elyton Park, 1.78 acres, inside the neighborhood.
• A.G. Gaston Park, 2.77 acres, 916 Washington Ave. SW, just outside the line.
• West End Walking Trail, 0.22 acre, also on the city’s list.

The grounds of Arlington are mapped in OpenStreetMap as Arlington Antebellum Home and Gardens. The comprehensive plan also mentions a West End Community Garden. More in our parks and trails and history and landmarks guides.

Getting around

• Interstates: I-65 exit 259 (University Boulevard), about 4 miles by road from the middle of the neighborhood, and exit 258 (Green Springs Avenue), about 4.4 miles. Exit names are from OpenStreetMap’s ramp signs.
• City Hall: about 3.5 miles by road.
• Airport: about 8.1 miles by road to Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. Distances are measured on the OpenStreetMap road network with the OSRM routing engine; they are distances, not drive times.
• Buses: three MAX Transit routes stop inside the neighborhood in the schedule data valid through Oct. 28: 3 Jefferson Wenonah, 1 South Bessemer and the Birmingham Xpress (BX).

More in our getting around guide.

Groceries and everyday stores

From OpenStreetMap:

• CVS Pharmacy, 632 Tuscaloosa Ave., inside the neighborhood.
• Piggly Wiggly, 1697 Tuscaloosa Ave., just west in Oakwood Place.

The West End Branch Library is at 1348 Tuscaloosa Ave.

Neighborhood association

Arlington-West End elects its own neighborhood officers under the city’s Citizen Participation Program. The city’s Community Resource Services Division lists Whitney Mullen as the representative for the West End community, 205-254-2523, on its staff page.

How we drew this area

The area is the Arlington-West End neighborhood polygon in the city’s open data boundary file, checked Oct. 17, 2026. School zones are from 47 sample points in the district’s Find My Zone tool; ZIP codes are from Census ZIP code areas. Place and store locations are © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Frequently asked questions

What high school is West End in Birmingham zoned for?

It depends on the street. In the district’s Find My Zone tool, the northern part of Arlington-West End is zoned for Parker High (66 on the 2025 state report card) and the southern part for Wenonah High (73).

What ZIP code is West End in?

Almost all of Arlington-West End is in 35211. The Zillow Home Value Index for 35211 was $73,479 in September 2026, down 3.8% in a year.

Where is Arlington in Birmingham?

At 331 Cotton Ave. SW, inside the Arlington-West End neighborhood on the city’s boundary map. OpenStreetMap maps it as Arlington Antebellum Home and Gardens.

Is West End a good place to live?

Here are the facts. Arlington-West End is a 1,100-acre neighborhood on Tuscaloosa Avenue with a branch library, two city parks and three MAX routes, split between the Parker High and Wenonah High zones; the typical home value in ZIP 35211 was $73,479 in September 2026, according to Zillow.