Best PlacesDecatur County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Decatur County, 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.
Decatur County ranks 2,653rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Disaster risk pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Decatur 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.
Decatur County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Decatur County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 73% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 72% of counties
- Short commute21.4 minutes each way, better than 70% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 69% of counties
Where Decatur County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 12% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 13% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Decatur County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Decatur County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,709, 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 Decatur County's effective rate of 0.94%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Decatur County
Decatur 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 Decatur County.
Who works in Decatur County, and how
Work in Decatur County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Decatur County
Decatur County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of counties and more parkland per resident than 75% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Decatur County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Decatur County growing, and who is moving in?
Decatur County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Crisp County, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Decatur County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Decatur County, month by month
Decatur County sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 51° | 42° |
| April | 81° | 68° | 57° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 84° | 70° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Decatur County
The nearest airport, Tallahassee International, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 173 miles away.
The best schools in and around Decatur County
Schools across Decatur County average a C, better than 29% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Whigham Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Jones-wheat Primary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Chattahoochee Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bainbridge Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Bainbridge High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- New Beginning Learning CenterF · 7% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Decatur County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Decatur 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 Decatur County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Decatur County suits
Common questions about living in Decatur County
Is Decatur County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Decatur County ranks 2,653rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and tree cover, and lowest on disaster risk and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Decatur County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,036. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $56,709 median income, cost of living beats 22% of counties.
Is Decatur County safe?
Decatur County is safer than 34% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $351 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Decatur County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 42. That works out to about 107 pleasant days a year, more than 65% of counties.
Is Decatur County good for families?
Schools beat 29% of counties, crime safety beats 34%, and childcare runs $502 a month.
Compare Decatur County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Decatur County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Decatur 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.
Decatur County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Decatur County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Decatur County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Decatur County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Decatur County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Decatur 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.