Best PlacesBen Hill County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ben Hill 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.
Ben Hill County ranks 2,713th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ben Hill County
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.
Ben Hill County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ben Hill County ranks high
- Short commute16.8 minutes each way, better than 91% of counties
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 123 pleasant days a year, better than 77% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 69% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 68% of counties
Where Ben Hill County ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 9% of counties
- Household income$50,766 median, better than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ben Hill County
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ben Hill County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,766, 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 Ben Hill County's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ben Hill County
Ben Hill County's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ben Hill County.
Who works in Ben Hill County, and how
Work in Ben Hill County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Ben Hill County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ben Hill County.
Is Ben Hill County growing, and who is moving in?
Ben Hill County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Coffee County, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ben Hill County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ben Hill County, month by month
Ben Hill County sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| April | 80° | 67° | 56° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Ben Hill County
The nearest airport, Southwest Georgia Regional, is about 57 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 126 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ben Hill County
Schools across Ben Hill County average a D, better than 8% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Ben Hill Elementary SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ben Hill County Middle SchoolD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Hurricane Transition AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
- Fitzgerald High School School College And Career AcademyD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ben Hill County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ben Hill 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 Ben Hill County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Ben Hill County
Is Ben Hill County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ben Hill County ranks 2,713th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, affordable childcare, and the weather, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ben Hill County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $121,263. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $50,766 median income, cost of living beats 6% of counties.
Is Ben Hill County safe?
Ben Hill County is safer than 38% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $354 per resident a year.
Compare Ben Hill County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ben Hill County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ben Hill 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.
Ben Hill County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ben Hill County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ben Hill County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ben Hill County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ben Hill County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ben Hill County 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.