Best PlacesBuckhead, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buckhead, 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 ranks 14,916th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on civic engagement, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Buckhead
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's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buckhead ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 83% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 81% of towns
- Household income$93,816 median, better than 80% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 80% of towns
Where Buckhead ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 18% of towns
- Short commute32.6 minutes each way, better than only 22% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 24% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Buckhead
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buckhead home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $93,816, 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 Buckhead's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Buckhead
Buckhead runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Buckhead.
Who works in Buckhead, and how
Work in Buckhead centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Buckhead
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Buckhead.
What the weather is like in Buckhead, month by month
Buckhead sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 46° | 38° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Buckhead
The nearest airport, Middle Georgia Regional, is about 61 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 62 miles away.
The best schools in and around Buckhead
Schools across Buckhead average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Morgan County Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Morgan County Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Putnam County Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Morgan County High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Putnam County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Greene County High SchoolD− · 11% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buckhead school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buckhead 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Buckhead
Is Buckhead a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buckhead ranks 14,916th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, fast internet, and an educated workforce, and lowest on an overheated housing market and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buckhead expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $315,501. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $93,816 median income, cost of living beats 79% of towns.
Is Buckhead safe?
Yes, Buckhead is safer than 76% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $210 per resident a year.
Compare Buckhead with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buckhead. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buckhead 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buckhead: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buckhead: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buckhead: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buckhead: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buckhead 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.