By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

A national website has ranked the top places to live in Shelby County, praising the communities for having everything from strong schools to low cost of living.

The Niche.com website recently released its “2017 best places to live in Shelby County” list, which was based on quality of schools, crime rates, housing trends, employment statistics and access to amenities.

The rankings are weighted heaviest toward higher education rates, cost of living, housing and public schools, according to the website.

The website ranks the Meadowbrook area off U.S. 280 as the top place to live in Shelby County, as the community earned a public school grade of A minus, a housing grade of A, a family friendliness grade of A plus, a nightlife grade of B plus and a diversity grade of B minus.

Indian Springs Village in northern Shelby County came in at No. 2 on the list, earning a public school grade of A minus, a housing grade of A, a family friendliness grade of A plus, a nightlife grade of B plus and a diversity grade of B minus.

Helena came in at No. 3 on the list, scoring an A minus for public schools, an A for housing, an A plus for family friendliness, a B for crime and safety, a B for nightlife and a B plus for diversity.

Following Helena was Alabaster, which came in at No. 4. Alabaster had a public school grade of A minus, a housing grade of A, a family friendliness grade of A, a crime and safety grade of B minus, a nightlife grade of B and a diversity grade of A minus.

The Brook Highland community in northern came in at No. 5 on the list, earning a public school grade of A minus, a housing grade of B minus, a family friendliness grade of A minus, a nightlife grade of A minus and a diversity grade of A.

Coming in at No. 6 on the list was Pelham, which earned a grade of A minus for public schools, A minus for housing, A for family friendliness, B for crime and safety, B plus for nightlife and B plus for diversity.

Calera came in at No. 7, earning a grade of A minus for public schools, A for housing, A for family friendliness, B plus for nightlife and A for diversity.

Chelsea ranked No. 8 on the list, earning a grade of A minus for public schools, A for housing, A for family friendliness, B plus for nightlife and B for diversity.

Coming in at No. 9 was Montevallo, which scored an A minus for public schools, B minus for housing, B plus for family friendliness, B minus for crime and safety, B minus for nightlife and A for diversity.

Rounding out the top 10 was Columbiana which earned an A minus for public schools, C plus for housing, B for family friendliness, B for crime and safety, C for nightlife and A minus for diversity.

To view the entire rankings, visit Niche.com/places-to-live/search/best-places-to-live/c/shelby-county-al.