Best PlacesGeorgia Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Georgia, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Georgia ranks 39th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on long commutes and the schools. It does better on fast internet, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Georgia
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 Georgia
The counties of Georgia, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Cobb County, Fulton County & Cherokee County
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Gwinnett County, DeKalb County & Forsyth County
Fewer homes sit empty, though homes cost more.
Clayton County, Muscogee County & Coweta County
Scores close to Gwinnett County, DeKalb County & Forsyth County, except that crime runs higher here.
Henry County, Houston County & Bibb County
Biking is worse.
Madison County, Hart County & Franklin County
It is quieter, though health outcomes score lower.
Richmond County, Columbia County & Bulloch County
Heat risk is higher and big-city amenities are further off.
Chatham County, Lowndes County & Glynn County
Disaster risk is higher and tree cover is thinner.
Dougherty County, Colquitt County & Thomas County
Prices have run up less and commutes are shorter.
Decatur County, Early County & Chattahoochee County
Advertised internet is slower and schools score lower.
Georgia shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Georgia's strengths and weaknesses
Georgia ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Fast internet, a strong job market, and what local pay buys carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: long commutes, the schools, and walkability all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Georgia ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of states
- Local economyBetter than 86% of states
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 83% of states
- Tree shadeBetter than 80% of states
- Cheap childcare$756 a month, better than 79% of states
Where Georgia ranks low
- Short commute28.3 minutes each way, better than only 11% of states
- School gradeC, better than only 15% of states
- WalkabilityBetter than only 15% of states
- BikingBetter than only 15% of states
- Air qualityBetter than only 19% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Georgia
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Georgia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,984, 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 Georgia's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 Georgia
Georgia'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 Georgia.
Who works in Georgia, and how
Work in Georgia centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Georgia
Georgia has less parkland per resident than most states. Georgia has 100 miles of ocean coastline. That concentrates in some parts of Georgia and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Georgia, month by month
Georgia sees roughly 82 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° |
The best schools in and around Georgia
Schools across Georgia average a C, better than 15% of states.
Top elementary schools
- Britt David Elementary Computer Magnet AcademyA+ · 92% proficient
- Daves Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
- Sharon Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kittredge Magnet SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Dickerson Middle SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Fruit Cove Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top high schools
- Gwinnett School Of Mathematics- Science And TechnologyA+ · 91% proficient
- Creekside High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Elite Scholars Academy SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Georgia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Georgia 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 Georgia against the other 49 states.
Who Georgia suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of states, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Georgia
Is Georgia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Georgia ranks 39th of 50 states. It scores highest on fast internet, a strong job market, and what local pay buys, and lowest on long commutes and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Georgia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $327,471. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $87,984 median income, cost of living beats 83% of states.
Is Georgia safe?
Georgia is safer than 23% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $381 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Georgia?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 32. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 45% of states.
What are the best areas in Georgia?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cobb County, Fulton County & Cherokee County, Gwinnett County, DeKalb County & Forsyth County, and Clayton County, Muscogee County & Coweta County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Georgia good for families?
Schools beat 15% of states, crime safety beats 23%, and childcare runs $756 a month.
Is Georgia good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of states, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 89% of states. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Georgia with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Georgia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Georgia 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.
Georgia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Georgia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Georgia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Georgia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Georgia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Georgia 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.
- 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.