Best PlacesBethlehem, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bethlehem, 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.
Bethlehem ranks 17,857th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bethlehem
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.
Bethlehem's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bethlehem ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 88% of towns
- TransitBetter than 88% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 85% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 84% of towns
Where Bethlehem ranks low
- Short commute37.3 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 21% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 22% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bethlehem
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bethlehem home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $82,041; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Bethlehem's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bethlehem
Bethlehem runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bethlehem.
Who works in Bethlehem, and how
Work in Bethlehem centers on manufacturing 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 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bethlehem
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bethlehem.
What the weather is like in Bethlehem, month by month
Bethlehem sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 44° | 36° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 75° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Bethlehem
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 43 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 51.5 million passengers in 2025, with 278 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Bethlehem
Schools across Bethlehem average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Walker Park Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- New Life Academy Of ExcellenceC+ · 37% proficient
- Kennedy Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mcconnell Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Haymon-morris Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Westside Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Archer High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Monroe Area High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Apalachee High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bethlehem school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bethlehem 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 Bethlehem against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bethlehem
Is Bethlehem a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bethlehem ranks 17,857th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, population health, and transit, and lowest on long commutes and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bethlehem expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $325,476. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $82,041 median income, cost of living beats 67% of towns.
Is Bethlehem safe?
Yes, Bethlehem is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $228 per resident a year.
Compare Bethlehem with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bethlehem. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bethlehem 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.
Bethlehem detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bethlehem: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bethlehem: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bethlehem: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bethlehem: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bethlehem 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.
- 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.