Best PlacesFort Lamar, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fort Lamar, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Fort Lamar ranks 34,054th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fort Lamar
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.
Fort Lamar's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fort Lamar ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$586 a month, better than 80% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 74% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 73% of towns
Where Fort Lamar ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 18% of towns
- Short commute33.3 minutes each way, better than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fort Lamar
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fort Lamar home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,171, 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 Fort Lamar's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Fort Lamar
Fort Lamar runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fort Lamar.
Who works in Fort Lamar, and how
Work in Fort Lamar centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Fort Lamar
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fort Lamar.
What the weather is like in Fort Lamar, month by month
Fort Lamar sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 53, 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 | 53° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Fort Lamar
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 76 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fort Lamar
Schools across Fort Lamar average a C+, better than 52% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ila Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Carnesville Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Danielsville Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Banks County Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Madison County Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Franklin County Middle SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Madison County High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Franklin County High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Banks County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fort Lamar school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fort Lamar 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 Fort Lamar against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fort Lamar
Is Fort Lamar a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fort Lamar ranks 34,054th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, affordable childcare, and state finances, and lowest on education levels and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fort Lamar expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $223,073. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $67,171 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Fort Lamar safe?
Fort Lamar is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $345 per resident a year.
Compare Fort Lamar with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fort Lamar. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fort Lamar 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.
Fort Lamar detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fort Lamar: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fort Lamar: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fort Lamar: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fort Lamar: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fort Lamar 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.