Best PlacesBaldwin County, GA Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood in Baldwin County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.

See the map of best neighborhoods

Baldwin County ranks 2,524th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The schools pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on tree cover.

#2,524
of 3,144 counties
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 3,144 counties
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in Baldwin County

Map of the best neighborhoods in the Baldwin County area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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.

Baldwin County's strengths and weaknesses

Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare Baldwin County with other counties.

Where Baldwin County ranks high

  • Tree shadeBetter than 81% of counties
  • Disaster safetyBetter than 75% of counties
  • State fiscal healthBetter than 69% of counties
  • State infrastructureBetter than 68% of counties
  • Cheap childcare$649 a month, better than 67% of counties

Where Baldwin County ranks low

  • School gradeD, better than only 6% of counties
  • Air qualityBetter than only 14% of counties
  • Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
  • Heat safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
  • Voter turnoutBetter than only 21% of counties

What it costs to buy a home in Baldwin County

A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Baldwin County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,775, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$55,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$1,291
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $216,159 home
Median rent
$981
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$1,102
Property tax$117
Homeowners insurance$72

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 Baldwin County's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in Baldwin County

Baldwin County's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.

Median age
39
about the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
17%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.3
below the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1821%
18 to 3427%
35 to 4917%
50 to 6417%
65 and older17%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Baldwin County.


Who works in Baldwin County, and how

Work in Baldwin County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.

Work from home
9%
below the national average
Unemployment
5.1%
about the national average
Job growth
+5.6%
/y 2019-2023, faster than the national pace

Largest industries

Education17%
Health care & social15%
Manufacturing13%
Retail trade11%
Hospitality & food8%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 85%
  • Work from home 9%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 5%

Life in Baldwin County

Baldwin County has more late-night spots per resident than 92% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Baldwin County and thins out in others, which the map shows.

Places to eat and drink
218
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 49.8 per 10,000 residents, more than 58% of counties
Coffee shops
18
about 4.1 per 10,000 residents, more than 35% of counties
Parkland
131 acres
about 3.0 acres per 1,000 residents, more than 36% of counties
Open past 10pm
~58
food and drink venues open late, about 13.4 per 10,000 residents, more than 92% of counties
Living on campus
2,203
students living in college or university housing

Is Baldwin County growing, and who is moving in?

Baldwin County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Atlanta, GA.

Population growth
-5%
over the decade, vs about 6% nationally
Population
43,644
down from 45,910
Population by year. Source: U.S. Census Population Estimates Program.

Where new residents come from

Atlanta, GA1,261 / yr
Macon, GA325 / yr
Appling County, GA178 / yr
Columbia, SC162 / yr
Warner Robins, GA118 / yr

Where people leaving Baldwin County go

Atlanta, GA993 / yr
Putnam County, GA250 / yr
Macon, GA215 / yr
Tattnall County, GA141 / yr
Washington County, GA101 / yr

Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.


What the weather is like in Baldwin County, month by month

Baldwin County sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January58°47°39°
April77°65°54°
July93°82°73°
October79°67°58°

Flying in and out of Baldwin County

The nearest airport, Middle Georgia Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 78 miles away.

Nearest airport
MCN
Middle Georgia Regional, about 36 miles
Airport size
Nonhub
373rd-busiest in the US, 3 nonstop destinations
Average drive
51 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around Baldwin County

Schools across Baldwin County average a D, better than 6% of counties.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Baldwin County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


Baldwin County 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 Baldwin County against the other 3,143 counties.


Who Baldwin County suits

Families

Schools land around the 6th percentile.

See the families priority ↑

Remote workers

9% already work from home.

See the remote-work priority ↑

Retirees

The weather beats 57% of counties and it is quieter than 59%.

See the retirees priority ↑


Common questions about living in Baldwin County

Is Baldwin County a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Baldwin County ranks 2,524th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, low disaster risk, and state finances, and lowest on the schools and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is Baldwin County expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $216,159. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $61,775 median income, cost of living beats 24% of counties.

Is Baldwin County safe?

Baldwin County is safer than 18% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $451 per resident a year.

What is the weather like in Baldwin County?

July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 39. That works out to about 95 pleasant days a year, more than 57% of counties.

Is Baldwin County good for families?

Schools beat 6% of counties, crime safety beats 18%, and childcare runs $649 a month.


Compare Baldwin County with other counties


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Baldwin County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Baldwin County 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.

Baldwin County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for Baldwin County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in Baldwin County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of Baldwin County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in Baldwin County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

Baldwin County detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
  3. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  4. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  5. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  6. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  7. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  8. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  9. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  10. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  11. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  12. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  13. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.