Best PlacesEast Ellijay, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Ellijay, 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.
East Ellijay ranks 28,139th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in East Ellijay
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.
East Ellijay's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Ellijay ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 91% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 79% of towns
Where East Ellijay ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 27% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 30% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in East Ellijay
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Ellijay home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,966, 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 East Ellijay's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in East Ellijay
East Ellijay runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for East Ellijay.
Who works in East Ellijay, and how
Work in East Ellijay centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in East Ellijay
East Ellijay has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns and more late-night spots per resident than 99% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of East Ellijay and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Ellijay, month by month
East Ellijay sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 42° | 34° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 52° |
Flying in and out of East Ellijay
The nearest airport, Lovell Field, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 71 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Ellijay
Schools across East Ellijay average a C+, better than 52% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clear Creek Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clear Creek Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Gilmer High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Ellijay school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Ellijay 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 East Ellijay against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in East Ellijay
Is East Ellijay a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Ellijay ranks 28,139th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and low property taxes, and lowest on an overheated housing market and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is East Ellijay expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $275,095. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $73,966 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is East Ellijay safe?
East Ellijay is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $473 per resident a year.
Compare East Ellijay with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Ellijay. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Ellijay 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.
East Ellijay detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Ellijay: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Ellijay: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Ellijay: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Ellijay: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Ellijay 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.