The white sand of Alabama’s coast wasn’t enough to place our beaches among 2018’s best beaches for living, as determined by the finance website WalletHub.

Had sand quality been a consideration, certainly Orange Beach would have cracked the top 160, and Gulf Shores would have been ranked higher than number 107.

To develop their rankings, WalletHub’s financial analysts examined several key indicators, including housing costs, property taxes, share of for-sale homes, weather, water temperature, walkability, and quality of education. They also examined various ‘quality of life’ criteria such as music venues and breweries per capita, diversity in attractions, and concentration of ice cream shops.

Lahaina, Hawaii, topped the list, with five Florida beaches in the top ten: Naples, Sarasota, St. Augustine, Boca Raton, and Key West.

Gulf Shores tied several Florida beaches for highest percentage of for-sale waterfront homes.

The city scored well on its affordability and economy ratings but what really knocked it out of contention were its low weather, safety, and education and health rankings.

Keep in mind, all ye disenchanted by this ranking: it rates best beaches to live in, not best beaches to visit!

Alabama’s beaches would certainly fair better in that ranking.

Read the full analysis here.

@jeremywbeaman is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News