Best PlacesGordon County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gordon County, 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.
Gordon County ranks 1,945th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. An overheated housing market pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on a strong job market.
The best neighborhoods in Gordon 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 Gordon County
The parts of Gordon 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.
Fairmount
It is quieter, fewer homes sit empty, and local pay stretches further.
Calhoun
More households have young kids and commutes are shorter.
Plainville
Heat risk is higher and incomes run lower.
Scores across Gordon County run from about the 7th to the 78th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Gordon County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gordon County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 82% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 77% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 73% of counties
- TransitBetter than 72% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 72% of counties
Where Gordon County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 13% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 15% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 22% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gordon County
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gordon County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,003, 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 Gordon County's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Gordon County
Gordon County'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 Gordon County.
Who works in Gordon County, and how
Work in Gordon County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Gordon County
Gordon County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Gordon County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Gordon County growing, and who is moving in?
Gordon County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Atlanta, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Gordon County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gordon County, month by month
Gordon County sees roughly 74 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 Gordon County
The nearest airport, Lovell Field, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 66 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gordon County
Schools across Gordon County average a C+, better than 42% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sonoraville ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Adairsville Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Belwood Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Calhoun Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Red Bud Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Calhoun Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Sonoraville High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Adairsville High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Calhoun High SchoolC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gordon County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gordon 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 Gordon County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Gordon County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Gordon County
Is Gordon County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gordon County ranks 1,945th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, big-city access, and few empty homes, and lowest on an overheated housing market and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gordon County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $223,286. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $69,003 median income, cost of living beats 65% of counties.
Is Gordon County safe?
Gordon County is safer than 36% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $344 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Gordon County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 34. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 29% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Gordon County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fairmount, Calhoun, and Plainville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Gordon County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gordon County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gordon 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.
Gordon County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gordon County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gordon County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gordon County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gordon County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gordon 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.