Best PlacesHabersham County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Habersham 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.
Habersham County ranks 1,907th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Habersham 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 Habersham County
The parts of Habersham 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.
Clarkesville
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Mount Airy
More households have young kids and fewer homes sit empty.
Demorest
Tree cover is thicker and it is quieter.
Cornelia
Health care is harder to reach and fewer residents vote.
Alto
Crime runs higher and commutes are longer.
Scores across Habersham County run from about the 3rd to the 65th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Habersham County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Habersham County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of counties
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 71% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 70% of counties
Where Habersham County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 13% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Habersham County
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Habersham County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,454, 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 Habersham County's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 Habersham County
Habersham 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 Habersham County.
Who works in Habersham County, and how
Work in Habersham County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Habersham County
Habersham 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 Habersham County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Habersham County growing, and who is moving in?
Habersham County has grown about 14% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Atlanta, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Habersham County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Habersham County, month by month
Habersham County sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 44° | 35° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 51° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Habersham County
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 78 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around Habersham County
Schools across Habersham County average a C+, better than 44% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Clarkesville Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Hazel Grove Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Fairview Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Habersham Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Banks County Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- South Habersham Middle SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Habersham Central High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Habersham Success AcademyD · 21% proficient
- Banks County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Habersham County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Habersham 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 Habersham County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Habersham County suits
Common questions about living in Habersham County
Is Habersham County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Habersham County ranks 1,907th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and low disaster risk, and lowest on an overheated housing market and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Habersham County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $237,521. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $71,454 median income, cost of living beats 44% of counties.
Is Habersham County safe?
Habersham County is safer than 40% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $355 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Habersham County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 55 with lows near 35. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 35% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Habersham County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Clarkesville, Mount Airy, and Demorest. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Habersham County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Habersham County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Habersham 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.
Habersham County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Habersham County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Habersham County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Habersham County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Habersham County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Habersham 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.