Best PlacesDunwoody, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dunwoody, 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.
Dunwoody ranks 401st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dunwoody
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.
Dunwoody's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dunwoody ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of cities
- Household income$145,478 median, better than 90% of cities
Where Dunwoody ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of cities
- School gradeC−, better than only 17% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 19% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Dunwoody
A household needs to earn about $158,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dunwoody home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $145,478; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Dunwoody's effective rate of 0.86%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dunwoody
Dunwoody'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 Dunwoody.
Who works in Dunwoody, and how
Work in Dunwoody centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 33%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Dunwoody
Dunwoody has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dunwoody and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Dunwoody, month by month
Dunwoody sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 43° | 32° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Dunwoody
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 22 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 Dunwoody
Schools across Dunwoody average a C−, better than 17% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Vanderlyn Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Austin Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Dunwoody Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Peachtree Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Sandy Springs Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- The Champion Middle Theme SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- North Springs High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Dunwoody High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Elizabeth Andrews High SchoolF · 7% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dunwoody school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dunwoody 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 Dunwoody against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Dunwoody suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 33% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Dunwoody
Is Dunwoody a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dunwoody ranks 401st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on what local pay buys, population health, and an educated workforce, and lowest on crime and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dunwoody expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $600,544. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $145,478 median income, cost of living beats 97% of cities.
Is Dunwoody safe?
Dunwoody is safer than 10% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $450 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dunwoody?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 32. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 15% of cities.
Is Dunwoody good for families?
Schools beat 17% of cities, crime safety beats 10%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Compare Dunwoody with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dunwoody. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dunwoody 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.
Dunwoody detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dunwoody: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dunwoody: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dunwoody: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dunwoody: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dunwoody 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.