Best PlacesColumbia County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Columbia 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.
Columbia County ranks 240th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $101,923, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are air quality, walkability, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Columbia 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 Columbia County
The parts of Columbia 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.
Evans
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Augusta
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer households have young kids.
Harlem
Tree cover is thicker and it is quieter.
Appling
Commutes are longer and health outcomes score lower.
Martinez
Prices have run up more and crime runs higher.
Grovetown
Schools score lower and fewer residents vote.
Columbia County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Columbia County's strengths and weaknesses
Columbia 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. High incomes and population health follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Air quality, walkability, and taxes hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Columbia County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of counties
- Household income$101,923 median, better than 93% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 91% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of counties
Where Columbia County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 22% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 25% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Columbia County
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Columbia County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $101,923, 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 Columbia County's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 Columbia County
Columbia 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 Columbia County.
Who works in Columbia County, and how
Work in Columbia County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Columbia County
Columbia County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Columbia County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Columbia County growing, and who is moving in?
Columbia County has grown about 20% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Augusta, GA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Columbia County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Columbia County, month by month
Columbia County sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 80° | 67° | 55° |
| July | 95° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Columbia County
The nearest airport, Augusta Regional at Bush Field, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 130 miles away.
The best schools in and around Columbia County
Schools across Columbia County average a B−, better than 68% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- River Ridge ElementaryA+ · 79% proficient
- Parkway Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Stevens Creek Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
Top middle schools
- Stallings Island Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
- Greenbrier Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Riverside Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Greenbrier High SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Lakeside High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Evans High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Columbia County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Columbia 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 Columbia County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Columbia County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Columbia County
Is Columbia County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Columbia County ranks 240th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and population health, and lowest on air quality and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Columbia County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $313,456. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $101,923 median income, cost of living beats 98% of counties.
Is Columbia County safe?
Yes, Columbia County is safer than 89% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $225 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Columbia County?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 39. That works out to about 87 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Columbia County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Evans, Augusta, and Harlem. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Columbia County good for families?
Schools beat 68% of counties, crime safety beats 89%, and childcare runs $649 a month.
Is Columbia County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 82% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Columbia County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Columbia County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Columbia 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.
Columbia County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Columbia County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Columbia County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Columbia County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Columbia County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Columbia 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.