Best PlacesCobb County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cobb 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.
Cobb County ranks 313th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $116,205, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, air quality, and car insurance costs.
The best neighborhoods in Cobb 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 Cobb County
The parts of Cobb 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.
Marietta
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and schools score higher.
Kennesaw & Acworth
Crime runs lower, though biking is worse.
Smyrna & Vinings
More adults hold degrees, though fewer households have young kids.
Atlanta
Prices have run up less, though homes cost more.
Mableton
Health care is harder to reach and more homes sit empty.
Powder Springs & Austell
Health outcomes score lower.
Fair Oaks
Transit reaches more jobs, though fewer residents vote.
Cobb County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Cobb County's strengths and weaknesses
Cobb 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 1% of counties. Population health and high incomes follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Noise, 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 Cobb County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of counties
- Household income$116,205 median, better than 96% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of counties
Where Cobb County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 7% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 15% of counties
- Short commute29.4 minutes each way, better than only 18% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cobb County
A household needs to earn about $109,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cobb County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $116,205, 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 Cobb 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 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 Cobb County
Cobb 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 Cobb County.
Who works in Cobb County, and how
Work in Cobb County centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Cobb County
Cobb County has more late-night spots per resident than 86% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Cobb County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cobb County growing, and who is moving in?
Cobb County has grown about 8% 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 Cobb County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cobb County, month by month
Cobb County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 56, 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 | 56° | 43° | 33° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 49° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Cobb County
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 22 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 Cobb County
Schools across Cobb County average a C, better than 39% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Marietta Center For Advanced AcademicsA+ · 81% proficient
- Mount Bethel Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Tritt Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dickerson Middle SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Dodgen Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Mabry Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
Top high schools
- Walton High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Pope High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Lassiter High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cobb County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cobb 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 Cobb County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cobb County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 24% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Cobb County
Is Cobb County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cobb County ranks 313th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, population health, and high incomes, and lowest on noise and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cobb County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $423,695. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $116,205 median income, cost of living beats 99% of counties.
Is Cobb County safe?
Cobb County is safer than 29% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $387 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cobb County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 33. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 33% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Cobb County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Marietta, Kennesaw & Acworth, and Smyrna & Vinings. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Cobb County good for families?
Schools beat 39% of counties, crime safety beats 29%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Is Cobb County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 88% of counties. About 24% of workers already work from home.
Compare Cobb County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cobb County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cobb 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.
Cobb County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cobb County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cobb County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cobb County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cobb County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cobb 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.