Best PlacesBuckhead, Atlanta, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buckhead, Atlanta, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Buckhead, Atlanta ranks 1,111th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $144,366, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are the weather, noise, and the schools.
The best neighborhoods in Buckhead, Atlanta
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.
Buckhead, Atlanta's strengths and weaknesses
Buckhead, Atlanta ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. What local pay buys is the standout, in the top 2% of neighborhoods. An educated workforce and population health follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, noise, and the schools hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Buckhead, Atlanta ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
Where Buckhead, Atlanta ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 19% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 21% of neighborhoods
- School gradeC−, better than only 24% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 26% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 31% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Buckhead, Atlanta
A household needs to earn about $227,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buckhead, Atlanta home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $144,366, 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 Buckhead, Atlanta's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 Buckhead, Atlanta
Buckhead, Atlanta'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 Buckhead, Atlanta.
Who works in Buckhead, Atlanta, and how
Work in Buckhead, Atlanta centers on professional & technical and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Buckhead, Atlanta
Buckhead, Atlanta has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 68% of neighborhoods. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Buckhead, Atlanta and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Buckhead, Atlanta, month by month
Buckhead, Atlanta sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 43° | 32° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Buckhead, Atlanta
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 14 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 Buckhead, Atlanta
Schools across Buckhead, Atlanta average a C−, better than 24% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Jackson Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Morris Brandon Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Sara Rawson Smith Elementary SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- David T Howard Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Willis A. Sutton Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Ridgeview Charter SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Midtown High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Riverwood International Charter SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Campbell High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buckhead, Atlanta school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buckhead, Atlanta 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 Buckhead, Atlanta against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Buckhead, Atlanta suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of neighborhoods, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 30% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Buckhead, Atlanta
Is Buckhead, Atlanta a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buckhead, Atlanta ranks 1,111th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on what local pay buys, an educated workforce, and population health, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buckhead, Atlanta expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $837,802. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $144,366 median income, cost of living beats 98% of neighborhoods.
Is Buckhead, Atlanta safe?
Buckhead, Atlanta is safer than 31% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $548 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Buckhead, Atlanta?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 32. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 19% of neighborhoods.
Is Buckhead, Atlanta good for families?
Schools beat 24% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 31%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Is Buckhead, Atlanta good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of neighborhoods, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 79% of neighborhoods. About 30% of workers already work from home.
Compare Buckhead, Atlanta with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buckhead, Atlanta. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buckhead, Atlanta 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.
Buckhead, Atlanta detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buckhead, Atlanta: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buckhead, Atlanta: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buckhead, Atlanta: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buckhead, Atlanta: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buckhead, Atlanta 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.