Best PlacesDawson, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dawson, 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.
Dawson ranks 48,636th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dawson
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.
Dawson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dawson ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 92% of towns
- Short commute21.7 minutes each way, better than 81% of towns
- BikingBetter than 80% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of towns
Where Dawson ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 5% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dawson
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dawson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $45,834, 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 Dawson's effective rate of 1.05%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dawson
Dawson'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 Dawson.
Who works in Dawson, and how
Work in Dawson centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Dawson
Dawson has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Dawson and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Dawson, month by month
Dawson sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 50° | 38° |
| April | 82° | 68° | 53° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 85° | 70° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Dawson
The nearest airport, Southwest Georgia Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 129 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dawson
Schools across Dawson average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Live Oak Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Cooper-carver Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Merry Acres Middle SchoolF · 8% proficient
- Terrell Middle SchoolF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Westover High SchoolD · 18% proficient
- Terrell High SchoolF · 7% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dawson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dawson 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 Dawson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dawson
Is Dawson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dawson ranks 48,636th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, affordable childcare, and short commutes, and lowest on the schools and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dawson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $122,598. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $45,834 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Dawson safe?
Dawson is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $697 per resident a year.
Compare Dawson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dawson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dawson 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.
Dawson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dawson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dawson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dawson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dawson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dawson 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.