Best PlacesGwinnett County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gwinnett 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.
Gwinnett County ranks 582nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $98,621, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are long commutes, noise, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Gwinnett 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 Gwinnett County
The parts of Gwinnett 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.
Suwanee & Sugar Hill
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Buford & Dacula
More residents vote and schools score higher.
Snellville
Tree cover is thicker and prices have run up less.
Loganville & Grayson
Biking is worse and commutes are longer.
Bethlehem
Scores close to Loganville & Grayson, except that it is noisier here.
Lawrenceville
Health care is harder to reach.
Norcross & Duluth
Transit reaches more jobs, though crime runs higher.
Lilburn & Tucker
Gwinnett County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Gwinnett County's strengths and weaknesses
Gwinnett County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 3% of counties. Population health and fast internet follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Long commutes, noise, and an overheated housing market hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Gwinnett County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of counties
- Household income$98,621 median, better than 92% of counties
Where Gwinnett County ranks low
- Short commute32.8 minutes each way, better than only 8% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 11% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gwinnett County
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gwinnett County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $98,621; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Gwinnett County's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 Gwinnett County
Gwinnett County runs younger than the country, 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 Gwinnett County.
Who works in Gwinnett County, and how
Work in Gwinnett County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Gwinnett County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Gwinnett County.
Is Gwinnett County growing, and who is moving in?
Gwinnett County has grown about 15% 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 Gwinnett County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gwinnett County, month by month
Gwinnett County sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 44° | 33° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Gwinnett County
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 31 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 Gwinnett County
Schools across Gwinnett County average a C, better than 38% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Simpson Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Riverside Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Level Creek Elementary SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Gwinnett Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Buford Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Crews Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Gwinnett School Of Mathematics- Science And TechnologyA+ · 91% proficient
- Buford High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Mcclure Health Science High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gwinnett County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gwinnett 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 Gwinnett County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Gwinnett County suits
Families
Schools land around the 38th percentile and crime safety beats 72%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Gwinnett County
Is Gwinnett County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gwinnett County ranks 582nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, population health, and fast internet, and lowest on long commutes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gwinnett County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $390,243. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $98,621 median income, cost of living beats 94% of counties.
Is Gwinnett County safe?
Yes, Gwinnett County is safer than 72% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $265 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Gwinnett County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 55 with lows near 33. That works out to about 84 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Gwinnett County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Suwanee & Sugar Hill, Buford & Dacula, and Snellville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Gwinnett County good for families?
Schools beat 38% of counties, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Is Gwinnett County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 94% of counties. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare Gwinnett County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gwinnett County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gwinnett 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.
Gwinnett County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gwinnett County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gwinnett County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gwinnett County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gwinnett County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gwinnett 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.