Best PlacesForsyth County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Forsyth County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Forsyth County ranks 15th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $149,454, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are long commutes, air quality, and walkability.
The best neighborhoods in Forsyth 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.
The best areas in Forsyth County
The parts of Forsyth County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Cumming
Crime runs lower, more residents vote, and local pay stretches further.
Suwanee
More adults hold degrees and schools score higher.
Alpharetta
More households have young kids, though tree cover is thinner.
Gainesville & Dawsonville
Incomes run lower and prices have run up more.
Scores across Forsyth County run from about the 39th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Forsyth County's strengths and weaknesses
Forsyth County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. What local pay buys is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. High incomes and population health follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Long commutes, air quality, and walkability hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Forsyth County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$149,454 median, better than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
Where Forsyth County ranks low
- Short commute30.6 minutes each way, better than only 13% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 18% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Forsyth County
A household needs to earn about $142,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Forsyth County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $149,454, 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 Forsyth County's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Forsyth County
Forsyth County's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Forsyth County.
Who works in Forsyth County, and how
Work in Forsyth County centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 33%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Forsyth County
Forsyth County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Forsyth County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Forsyth County growing, and who is moving in?
Forsyth County has grown about 38% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Atlanta, GA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Forsyth County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Forsyth County, month by month
Forsyth County sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Forsyth County
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 41 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 Forsyth County
Schools across Forsyth County average a B+, better than 88% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Daves Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
- Sharon Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Big Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Riverwatch Middle SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- South Forsyth Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Piney Grove Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
Top high schools
- Alliance Academy For InnovationA · 67% proficient
- Lambert High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- South Forsyth High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Forsyth County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Forsyth 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 Forsyth County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Forsyth County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 100% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 33% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Forsyth County
Is Forsyth County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Forsyth County ranks 15th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and population health, and lowest on long commutes and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Forsyth County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $553,221. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $149,454 median income, cost of living beats 100% of counties.
Is Forsyth County safe?
Yes, Forsyth County is safer than 91% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $209 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Forsyth County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 35. That works out to about 86 pleasant days a year, more than 47% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Forsyth County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cumming, Suwanee, and Alpharetta. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Forsyth County good for families?
Schools beat 88% of counties, crime safety beats 91%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Is Forsyth County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 100% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 90% of counties. About 33% of workers already work from home.
Compare Forsyth County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Forsyth County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Forsyth 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.
Forsyth County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Forsyth County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Forsyth County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Forsyth County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Forsyth County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Forsyth 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.