Best PlacesCharlton County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Charlton County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Charlton County ranks 2,799th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Disaster risk pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Charlton County
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.
Charlton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Charlton County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 123 pleasant days a year, better than 77% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 75% of counties
Where Charlton County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 9% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Charlton County
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Charlton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,933, 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 Charlton County's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Charlton County
Charlton County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Charlton County.
Who works in Charlton County, and how
Work in Charlton County centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Charlton County
Charlton County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Charlton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Charlton County growing, and who is moving in?
Charlton County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jacksonville, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Charlton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Charlton County, month by month
Charlton County sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 54° | 42° |
| April | 83° | 69° | 56° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 84° | 72° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Charlton County
Jacksonville International sits about 28 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.7 million passengers in 2025, with 86 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Charlton County
Schools across Charlton County average a C, better than 30% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Nahunta Primary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Folkston Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- St. George Elementary SchoolC · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brantley County Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Bethune Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Brantley County High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Charlton County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Charlton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Charlton County 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 Charlton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Charlton County
Is Charlton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Charlton County ranks 2,799th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, clean air, and tree cover, and lowest on disaster risk and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Charlton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $144,868. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $57,933 median income, cost of living beats 21% of counties.
Is Charlton County safe?
Charlton County is safer than 21% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $411 per resident a year.
Compare Charlton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Charlton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Charlton County 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.
Charlton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Charlton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Charlton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Charlton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Charlton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Charlton County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.