Best PlacesAugusta, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Augusta metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by c_live_lee, CC0, via commons
Augusta ranks 293rd of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on tree cover and affordable childcare. The weaker spots are biking, walkability, and the schools.
The best neighborhoods in the Augusta metro
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Augusta
The towns and districts of the Augusta metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Evans
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Aiken
Prices have run up less, though fewer households have young kids.
Edgefield
Schools score higher and heat risk is lower.
Grovetown, Martinez & Thomson
Crime runs lower, though it is noisier.
New Ellenton & Jackson
Health care is easier to reach and homes cost less.
Graniteville, Johnston & Wagener
Fewer residents vote and health outcomes score lower.
Hephzibah
Tree cover is thinner.
Downtown Augusta
Streets are more walkable, though more homes sit empty.
Waynesboro
Scores close to Downtown Augusta, except that biking is worse here.
Augusta shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Augusta's strengths and weaknesses
Augusta ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Tree cover, affordable childcare, and quiet are the strongest pieces, though none of them is exceptional.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: biking, walkability, and the schools all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Augusta ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of metro areas
- Cheap childcare$710 a month, better than 78% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than 77% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than 74% of metro areas
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 72% of metro areas
Where Augusta ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 6% of metro areas
- WalkabilityBetter than only 9% of metro areas
- School gradeC−, better than only 11% of metro areas
- Low vacancyBetter than only 11% of metro areas
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Augusta
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Augusta home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,948, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Augusta's effective rate of 0.71%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Augusta
Augusta's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Augusta.
Who works in Augusta, and how
Work in Augusta centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Augusta
Augusta has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of metro areas and less parkland per resident than most metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Augusta and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Augusta growing, and who is moving in?
Augusta has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Atlanta, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Augusta go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Augusta, month by month
Augusta sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 80° | 67° | 55° |
| July | 95° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Augusta
The nearest airport, Augusta Regional at Bush Field, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Augusta
Schools across Augusta average a C−, better than 11% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- River Ridge ElementaryA+ · 79% proficient
- Parkway Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Stevens Creek Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
Top middle schools
- Stallings Island Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
- New Ellenton Steam Magnet MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Greenbrier Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Aiken Scholars AcademyA+ · 95% proficient
- Davidson Magnet SchoolA · 68% proficient
- South Aiken HighA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Augusta school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Augusta measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Augusta against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Augusta suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of metro areas and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Augusta
Is Augusta a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Augusta ranks 293rd of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and quiet, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Augusta expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $228,696. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $75,948 median income, cost of living beats 72% of metro areas.
Is Augusta safe?
Augusta is safer than 25% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $427 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Augusta?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 39. That works out to about 86 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Augusta?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Evans, Aiken, and Edgefield. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Augusta good for families?
Schools beat 11% of metro areas, crime safety beats 25%, and childcare runs $710 a month.
Is Augusta good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 52% of metro areas. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Augusta with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Augusta. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Augusta represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Augusta detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Augusta: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Augusta: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Augusta: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Augusta: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Augusta detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.