Best PlacesCumming, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cumming, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cumming ranks 21st of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $146,262, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are walkability, cell coverage, and biking.
The best neighborhoods in Cumming
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.
Cumming's strengths and weaknesses
Cumming 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 cities. Quiet and civic engagement follow.
The one real hole is walkability, near the bottom of the country. Cell coverage and biking also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Cumming ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of cities
- QuietBetter than 98% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of cities
- Household income$146,262 median, better than 96% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of cities
Where Cumming ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 2% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 5% of cities
- Short commute30.3 minutes each way, better than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Cumming
A household needs to earn about $137,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cumming home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $146,262, 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 Cumming's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Cumming
Cumming'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 Cumming.
Who works in Cumming, and how
Work in Cumming centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Cumming
Cumming has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of cities and more parkland per resident than 83% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cumming and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cumming, month by month
Cumming sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Cumming
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 42 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 Cumming
Schools across Cumming average a B+, better than 84% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Daves Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
- Sharon Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Big Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Riverwatch Middle SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- South Forsyth Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Piney Grove Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
Top high schools
- Alliance Academy For InnovationA · 67% proficient
- Lambert High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- South Forsyth High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cumming school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cumming 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 Cumming against the other 444 cities.
Who Cumming suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 32% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Cumming
Is Cumming a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cumming ranks 21st of 445 cities. It scores highest on what local pay buys, quiet, and civic engagement, and lowest on walkability and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cumming expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $530,696. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $146,262 median income, cost of living beats 98% of cities.
Is Cumming safe?
Yes, Cumming is safer than 96% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $197 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cumming?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 35. That works out to about 87 pleasant days a year, more than 38% of cities.
Is Cumming good for families?
Schools beat 84% of cities, crime safety beats 96%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Is Cumming good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of cities, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 66% of cities. About 32% of workers already work from home.
Compare Cumming with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cumming. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cumming 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.
Cumming detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cumming: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cumming: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cumming: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cumming: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cumming 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.