Best PlacesGrady County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Grady 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.
Grady County ranks 2,114th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Disaster risk pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Grady 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.
Grady County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grady County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 82% of counties
- QuietBetter than 80% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 77% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 119 pleasant days a year, better than 74% of counties
Where Grady County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 12% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Grady County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grady County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,194, 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 Grady County's effective rate of 0.91%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Grady County
Grady 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 Grady County.
Who works in Grady County, and how
Work in Grady County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Grady County
Grady County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Grady County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Grady County growing, and who is moving in?
Grady County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Gordon County, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Grady County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Grady County, month by month
Grady County sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 51° | 42° |
| April | 79° | 67° | 56° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Grady County
The nearest airport, Tallahassee International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 152 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grady County
Schools across Grady County average a C−, better than 22% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Whigham Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Southside Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Shiver Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Washington Middle SchoolD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Lawton Chiles High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Bainbridge High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Thomasville High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grady County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grady 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 Grady County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Grady County suits
Families
Schools land around the 22nd percentile and crime safety beats 68%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 5% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Grady County
Is Grady County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grady County ranks 2,114th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and quiet, and lowest on disaster risk and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Grady County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,885. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $67,194 median income, cost of living beats 38% of counties.
Is Grady County safe?
Yes, Grady County is safer than 68% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $280 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Grady County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 63 with lows near 42. That works out to about 119 pleasant days a year, more than 74% of counties.
Is Grady County good for families?
Schools beat 22% of counties, crime safety beats 68%, and childcare runs $502 a month.
Compare Grady County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grady County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grady 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.
Grady County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grady County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grady County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grady County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grady County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grady 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.