diff --git a/backend/routes/health.js b/backend/routes/health.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29162e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/routes/health.js
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+const express = require("express");
+const router = express.Router();
+const { sequelize } = require("../models");
+const s3Service = require("../services/s3Service");
+const logger = require("../utils/logger");
+
+/**
+ * Health check endpoint for load balancers and monitoring
+ * GET /health
+ *
+ * Returns:
+ * - 200: All services healthy
+ * - 503: One or more services unhealthy
+ */
+router.get("/", async (req, res) => {
+  const startTime = Date.now();
+  const checks = {
+    database: { status: "unknown", latency: null },
+    s3: { status: "unknown", latency: null },
+  };
+
+  let allHealthy = true;
+
+  // Database health check
+  try {
+    const dbStart = Date.now();
+    await sequelize.authenticate();
+    checks.database = {
+      status: "healthy",
+      latency: Date.now() - dbStart,
+    };
+  } catch (error) {
+    allHealthy = false;
+    checks.database = {
+      status: "unhealthy",
+      error: error.message,
+      latency: Date.now() - startTime,
+    };
+    logger.error("Health check: Database connection failed", {
+      error: error.message,
+    });
+  }
+
+  // S3 health check (if enabled)
+  if (s3Service.isEnabled()) {
+    try {
+      const s3Start = Date.now();
+      // S3 is considered healthy if it's properly initialized
+      // A more thorough check could list bucket contents, but that adds latency
+      checks.s3 = {
+        status: "healthy",
+        latency: Date.now() - s3Start,
+        bucket: process.env.S3_BUCKET,
+      };
+    } catch (error) {
+      allHealthy = false;
+      checks.s3 = {
+        status: "unhealthy",
+        error: error.message,
+        latency: Date.now() - startTime,
+      };
+      logger.error("Health check: S3 check failed", {
+        error: error.message,
+      });
+    }
+  } else {
+    checks.s3 = {
+      status: "disabled",
+      latency: 0,
+    };
+  }
+
+  // Log unhealthy states
+  if (!allHealthy) {
+    logger.warn("Health check failed", { checks });
+  }
+
+  res.status(allHealthy ? 200 : 503).json({
+    status: allHealthy ? "healthy" : "unhealthy",
+  });
+});
+
+/**
+ * Liveness probe - simple check that the process is running
+ * GET /health/live
+ *
+ * Used by Kubernetes/ECS for liveness probes
+ * Returns 200 if the process is alive
+ */
+router.get("/live", (req, res) => {
+  res.status(200).json({
+    status: "alive",
+    timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+  });
+});
+
+/**
+ * Readiness probe - check if the service is ready to accept traffic
+ * GET /health/ready
+ *
+ * Used by load balancers to determine if instance should receive traffic
+ * Checks critical dependencies (database)
+ */
+router.get("/ready", async (req, res) => {
+  try {
+    await sequelize.authenticate();
+    res.status(200).json({
+      status: "ready",
+      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+    });
+  } catch (error) {
+    logger.error("Readiness check failed", { error: error.message });
+    res.status(503).json({
+      status: "not_ready",
+      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+      error: "Database connection failed",
+    });
+  }
+});
+
+module.exports = router;
diff --git a/backend/server.js b/backend/server.js
index ed7afee..c0bcba9 100644
--- a/backend/server.js
+++ b/backend/server.js
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ const mapsRoutes = require("./routes/maps");
 const conditionCheckRoutes = require("./routes/conditionChecks");
 const feedbackRoutes = require("./routes/feedback");
 const uploadRoutes = require("./routes/upload");
+const healthRoutes = require("./routes/health");
 
 const PayoutProcessor = require("./jobs/payoutProcessor");
 const RentalStatusJob = require("./jobs/rentalStatusJob");
@@ -142,15 +143,18 @@ app.use(
   express.static(path.join(__dirname, "uploads"))
 );
 
+// Health check endpoints (no auth, no rate limiting)
+app.use("/health", healthRoutes);
+
+// Root endpoint
+app.get("/", (req, res) => {
+  res.json({ message: "Village Share API is running!" });
+});
+
 // Public routes (no alpha access required)
 app.use("/api/alpha", alphaRoutes);
 app.use("/api/auth", authRoutes); // Auth has its own alpha checks in registration
 
-// Health check endpoint
-app.get("/", (req, res) => {
-  res.json({ message: "CommunityRentals.App API is running!" });
-});
-
 // Protected routes (require alpha access)
 app.use("/api/users", requireAlphaAccess, userRoutes);
 app.use("/api/items", requireAlphaAccess, itemRoutes);
diff --git a/backend/tests/unit/routes/health.test.js b/backend/tests/unit/routes/health.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb7a8ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tests/unit/routes/health.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+const request = require('supertest');
+const express = require('express');
+
+// Mock dependencies
+jest.mock('../../../models', () => ({
+  sequelize: {
+    authenticate: jest.fn(),
+  },
+}));
+
+jest.mock('../../../services/s3Service', () => ({
+  isEnabled: jest.fn(),
+}));
+
+jest.mock('../../../utils/logger', () => ({
+  info: jest.fn(),
+  error: jest.fn(),
+  warn: jest.fn(),
+}));
+
+const { sequelize } = require('../../../models');
+const s3Service = require('../../../services/s3Service');
+const healthRoutes = require('../../../routes/health');
+
+describe('Health Routes', () => {
+  let app;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    app = express();
+    app.use('/health', healthRoutes);
+    jest.clearAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  describe('GET /health', () => {
+    it('should return 200 when all services are healthy', async () => {
+      sequelize.authenticate.mockResolvedValue();
+      s3Service.isEnabled.mockReturnValue(true);
+
+      const response = await request(app).get('/health');
+
+      expect(response.status).toBe(200);
+      expect(response.body).toEqual({ status: 'healthy' });
+    });
+
+    it('should return 503 when database is unhealthy', async () => {
+      sequelize.authenticate.mockRejectedValue(new Error('Connection refused'));
+      s3Service.isEnabled.mockReturnValue(true);
+
+      const response = await request(app).get('/health');
+
+      expect(response.status).toBe(503);
+      expect(response.body).toEqual({ status: 'unhealthy' });
+    });
+
+    it('should return healthy when S3 is disabled but database is up', async () => {
+      sequelize.authenticate.mockResolvedValue();
+      s3Service.isEnabled.mockReturnValue(false);
+
+      const response = await request(app).get('/health');
+
+      expect(response.status).toBe(200);
+      expect(response.body).toEqual({ status: 'healthy' });
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('GET /health/live', () => {
+    it('should return 200 alive status', async () => {
+      const response = await request(app).get('/health/live');
+
+      expect(response.status).toBe(200);
+      expect(response.body.status).toBe('alive');
+      expect(response.body).toHaveProperty('timestamp');
+    });
+
+    it('should always return 200 regardless of service state', async () => {
+      // Liveness probe should always pass if the process is running
+      sequelize.authenticate.mockRejectedValue(new Error('DB down'));
+
+      const response = await request(app).get('/health/live');
+
+      expect(response.status).toBe(200);
+      expect(response.body.status).toBe('alive');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('GET /health/ready', () => {
+    it('should return 200 when database is ready', async () => {
+      sequelize.authenticate.mockResolvedValue();
+
+      const response = await request(app).get('/health/ready');
+
+      expect(response.status).toBe(200);
+      expect(response.body.status).toBe('ready');
+      expect(response.body).toHaveProperty('timestamp');
+    });
+
+    it('should return 503 when database is not ready', async () => {
+      sequelize.authenticate.mockRejectedValue(new Error('Connection timeout'));
+
+      const response = await request(app).get('/health/ready');
+
+      expect(response.status).toBe(503);
+      expect(response.body.status).toBe('not_ready');
+      expect(response.body.error).toBe('Database connection failed');
+    });
+  });
+});