Foley, Alabama

Best fit: Inland value, new construction, Baldwin County.

Where it is

Foley is the inland town of south Baldwin County, Alabama, roughly ten miles north of the Gulf Shores public beach. State Route 59 runs through the middle of it as McKenzie Street and continues south to the sand; US-98 crosses east to west toward Elberta, Lillian and the Lillian Bridge over Perdido Bay into Florida.

It is also where most of this end of the county actually lives. The Census Bureau estimated 28,043 residents in Foley on July 1, 2024, against 17,431 in Gulf Shores and 8,599 in Orange Beach, and Foley has grown about 36% from its 2020 census base. One caution on the ZIP: 36535 reaches well past the city limits, so a Foley mailing address is not proof that a parcel sits inside the City of Foley.

Homes and prices

Zillow Research put the typical home value in ZIP 36535 at $306,621 on July 31, 2026, down 1.8% over the year. On the same date Gulf Shores (36542) stood at $459,465 and Orange Beach (36561) at $688,173. That gap is why buyers who want a house and a yard rather than a condo and a rental calendar start their search here.

The stock splits in two. Around the old downtown grid on McKenzie Street you get mid-century and older houses on platted town lots; out toward the edges you get production subdivisions built through the last decade, with D.R. Horton alone listing Foley communities including Rosewood, Magnolia Pines, Hadley Village and Robert's Cove. Waterfront in Foley means a creek or a bayou, not the Gulf, so most of the inventory is dry-lot inland housing priced accordingly.

Getting around

Two roads carry Foley. State Route 59 is the direct run south to Gulf Shores and the one that stacks up on summer weekends. The Foley Beach Express is the alternative, 14 miles from north Foley down to Canal Road in Orange Beach, and its Gulf Intracoastal Waterway bridge has been free since the Alabama Department of Transportation bought it and ended tolls on May 23, 2024.

North of town the Baldwin Beach Express continues 12.8 miles to Interstate 10 at Exit 49 near Loxley, complete since August 15, 2014. That is the route toward Mobile, Pensacola and the airports without touching the SR 59 corridor.

Inside the city you have Baldwin Health, the hospital formerly named South Baldwin Regional Medical Center, which opened a $250 million five-story tower on North McKenzie Street in October 2024. OWA Parks and Resort, owned and operated by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, sits on a 520-acre property here, as do the Foley Sports Tourism Complex with its 90,000 square foot event center and the city's Graham Creek Nature Preserve with 10 miles of trail and a kayak launch.

What to verify before you write in Alabama

Alabama is not Florida, and the differences are procedural rather than cosmetic. Closings run under Alabama law, usually through an attorney or a title company. Owner-occupied Class III property is assessed at 10% of market value, and the regular H-1 homestead exemption is not automatic: you have to occupy the home on October 1 and file once with the Baldwin County Revenue Commission before December 31 of the year you buy.

The seller's current tax bill reflects the seller's exemptions, not yours, so we run the county's own property tax calculator on the parcel instead of trusting the listing remarks.

Two more items are address-specific rather than town-wide. First, jurisdiction: pull the parcel record to see whether the property is inside the city or in unincorporated Baldwin County, because that decides services, sewer versus septic, and which floodplain ordinance applies. Second, wind coverage, which is quoted separately on this coast.

Eligibility for the Alabama Insurance Underwriting Association, the Beach Pool, is limited to the designated Gulf Front, Beach and Seacoast territories of Baldwin and Mobile counties, so whether a given Foley address qualifies is a question for the agent writing the quote rather than a rule of thumb.

On new construction the builder writes the contract and often ties its incentives to its own lender. We read the contract before you sign, price the incentive against the real rate, and order independent inspections at pre-drywall and final.

Schools

Alabama grades its schools through the Alabama State Department of Education, not Florida's FLDOE system, on a 100-point scale where 90 and above is an A and 80 to 89 is a B. On the 2025 state report card, which covers the 2024-2025 school year and is the most recent published, the Baldwin County public schools serving Foley (Foley High, Foley Middle, Foley Elementary, Florence B. Mathis Elementary, Magnolia School and Swift Elementary) each earned a B.

School letter grades are the official 2026 Florida Department of Education grades. Zoning is set by the district and can change; confirm the assigned schools for any specific address with the county school district before you buy. See all Escambia and Santa Rosa school reports.

Flood and insurance

Foley sits about ten miles inland, so its Special Flood Hazard Areas follow creek and river bottoms rather than a shoreline: Graham Creek and Wolf Creek head in and around the city and drain toward Wolf Bay, and the Bon Secour River runs past the west side of town. Plenty of Foley sits outside the mapped hazard area, but the City of Foley administers its own flood ordinance and issues flood determination letters, so pull the determination on the specific parcel before you offer.

Florida homeowners insurance is priced on roof age, wind mitigation and the flood zone, so we pull both quotes during the inspection period, never after closing. Read our Florida home insurance guide for the details.

Start your search

Tell us what you are looking for in Foley, AL and your timeline, and you will have a plain-language plan within one business day: current inventory, the streets that fit, what to inspect, and the insurance picture before you write an offer.

Frequently asked questions

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