Best PlacesElbert County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Elbert 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.
Elbert County ranks 2,340th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on affordable childcare, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elbert 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.
Elbert County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elbert County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 88% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 76% of counties
- QuietBetter than 70% of counties
Where Elbert County ranks low
- School gradeD+, better than only 11% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 15% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Elbert County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elbert County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,693, 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 Elbert County's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 Elbert County
Elbert County 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 Elbert County.
Who works in Elbert County, and how
Work in Elbert County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Elbert County
Elbert County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Elbert County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Elbert County growing, and who is moving in?
Elbert County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Hart County, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Elbert County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Elbert County, month by month
Elbert County sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 45° | 37° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Elbert County
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 65 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elbert County
Schools across Elbert County average a D+, better than 11% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Elbert County Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Elbert County Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Elbert County High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elbert County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elbert 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 Elbert County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Elbert County
Is Elbert County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elbert County ranks 2,340th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and tree cover, and lowest on the schools and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elbert County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,081. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $58,693 median income, cost of living beats 27% of counties.
Is Elbert County safe?
Elbert County is safer than 43% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $341 per resident a year.
Compare Elbert County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elbert County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elbert 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.
Elbert County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elbert County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elbert County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elbert County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elbert County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elbert 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.