Best PlacesBuford, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buford, 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.
Buford ranks 847th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Buford
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.
Buford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buford ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 83% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 81% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 75% of cities
Where Buford ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 9% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 9% of cities
- Short commute31.6 minutes each way, better than only 16% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Buford
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $103,551; 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 Buford's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Buford
Buford 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 Buford.
Who works in Buford, and how
Work in Buford centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Buford
Buford has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of cities and more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Buford and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Buford, month by month
Buford sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 44° | 33° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Buford
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 41 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 Buford
Schools across Buford average a B, better than 60% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Settles Bridge Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Ivy Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Buford AcademyA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Riverwatch Middle SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- North Gwinnett Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Buford Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Lambert High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Buford High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Mill Creek High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buford 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 Buford against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Buford suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 19% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Buford
Is Buford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buford ranks 847th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a strong job market, low disaster risk, and state finances, and lowest on walkability and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $420,249. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $103,551 median income, cost of living beats 74% of cities.
Is Buford safe?
Yes, Buford is safer than 70% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $246 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Buford?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 55 with lows near 33. That works out to about 88 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of cities.
Is Buford good for families?
Schools beat 60% of cities, crime safety beats 70%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Compare Buford with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buford 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.
Buford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buford 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.