Best PlacesDakota, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dakota, 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.
Dakota ranks 45,936th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dakota
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.
Dakota's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dakota ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 92% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 80% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 77% of towns
Where Dakota ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 4% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 5% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dakota
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dakota home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,991, 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 Dakota's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dakota
Dakota'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 Dakota.
Who works in Dakota, and how
Work in Dakota centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Dakota
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dakota.
What the weather is like in Dakota, month by month
Dakota sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| April | 80° | 67° | 56° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Dakota
The nearest airport, Southwest Georgia Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dakota
Schools across Dakota average a D−, better than 4% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Turner County Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
- Crisp County Primary SchoolD− · 12% proficient
Top middle schools
- Worth County Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Crisp County Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Turner County Middle SchoolF · 9% proficient
Top high schools
- Crisp County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Worth County High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
- Turner County High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dakota school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dakota 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 Dakota against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dakota
Is Dakota a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dakota ranks 45,936th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, affordable childcare, and fast internet, and lowest on thin health care access and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dakota expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $89,531. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $62,991 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is Dakota safe?
Dakota is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $533 per resident a year.
Compare Dakota with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dakota. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dakota 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.
Dakota detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dakota: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dakota: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dakota: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dakota: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dakota 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.