Best PlacesBlue Ridge, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Blue Ridge, 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.
Blue Ridge ranks 31,869th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Blue Ridge
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.
Blue Ridge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Blue Ridge ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 92% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 80% of towns
Where Blue Ridge ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 22% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Blue Ridge
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blue Ridge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $60,732, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Blue Ridge's effective rate of 0.36%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Blue Ridge
Blue Ridge runs older than the country, 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 Blue Ridge.
Who works in Blue Ridge, and how
Work in Blue Ridge centers on retail trade and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Blue Ridge
Blue Ridge has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Blue Ridge and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Blue Ridge, month by month
Blue Ridge sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 37° | 28° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Blue Ridge
The nearest airport, Lovell Field, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Blue Ridge
Schools across Blue Ridge average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clear Creek Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Ellijay Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Blue Ridge Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clear Creek Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Fannin County Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Fannin County High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Gilmer High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blue Ridge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blue Ridge 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 Blue Ridge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Blue Ridge
Is Blue Ridge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blue Ridge ranks 31,869th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and low property taxes, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Blue Ridge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $329,348. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $60,732 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is Blue Ridge safe?
Blue Ridge is safer than 46% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $306 per resident a year.
Compare Blue Ridge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blue Ridge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blue Ridge 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.
Blue Ridge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blue Ridge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blue Ridge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blue Ridge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blue Ridge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blue Ridge 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.