Best PlacesCherokee County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cherokee County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cherokee County ranks 210th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $113,816, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are long commutes, air quality, and car insurance costs.
The best neighborhoods in Cherokee 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.
The best areas in Cherokee County
The parts of Cherokee County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Alpharetta
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and prices have run up less.
Canton
It is quieter, though fewer households have young kids.
Ball Ground
Crime runs lower, though biking is worse.
Waleska
Tree cover is thicker, though more homes sit empty.
Woodstock & Acworth
Scores close to Waleska, except that schools score higher here.
Holly Springs
Fewer adults hold degrees and fewer residents vote.
Cherokee County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 11% of the country and others in the top 4%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Cherokee County's strengths and weaknesses
Cherokee County 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 counties. A strong job market and few empty homes follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Long commutes, air quality, and car insurance costs hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Cherokee County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of counties
- Household income$113,816 median, better than 96% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 91% of counties
Where Cherokee County ranks low
- Short commute31.3 minutes each way, better than only 11% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 19% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cherokee County
A household needs to earn about $115,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cherokee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $113,816; 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 Cherokee County's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cherokee County
Cherokee County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cherokee County.
Who works in Cherokee County, and how
Work in Cherokee County centers on retail trade and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Cherokee County
Cherokee County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Cherokee County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cherokee County growing, and who is moving in?
Cherokee County has grown about 28% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Atlanta, GA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cherokee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cherokee County, month by month
Cherokee County sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, 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 | 54° | 43° | 33° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 77° | 65° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Cherokee County
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 37 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 Cherokee County
Schools across Cherokee County average a B, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bascomb Elementary SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Sixes Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Macedonia Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- Creekland Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Freedom Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Dean Rusk Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Creekview High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Cherokee High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- River Ridge High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cherokee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cherokee 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 Cherokee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cherokee County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 22% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 57% of counties and health care access beats 65%.
Common questions about living in Cherokee County
Is Cherokee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cherokee County ranks 210th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, a strong job market, and few empty homes, and lowest on long commutes and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cherokee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $447,292. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $113,816 median income, cost of living beats 98% of counties.
Is Cherokee County safe?
Yes, Cherokee County is safer than 79% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $245 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cherokee County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 33. That works out to about 95 pleasant days a year, more than 57% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Cherokee County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Alpharetta, Canton, and Ball Ground. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Cherokee County good for families?
Schools beat 70% of counties, crime safety beats 79%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Is Cherokee County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 80% of counties. About 22% of workers already work from home.
Compare Cherokee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cherokee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cherokee 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.
Cherokee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cherokee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cherokee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cherokee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cherokee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cherokee 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.