Best PlacesHeard County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Heard County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Heard County ranks 1,869th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Heard 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.
Heard County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Heard County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 94% of counties
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 85% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 75% of counties
Where Heard County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 2% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 2% of counties
- Short commute34.9 minutes each way, better than only 4% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Heard County
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Heard County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,758, 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 Heard County's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 Heard County
Heard 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 Heard County.
Who works in Heard County, and how
Work in Heard County centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Heard County
Heard County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Heard County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Heard County growing, and who is moving in?
Heard County has grown about 4% 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 Heard County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Heard County, month by month
Heard County sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 78° | 64° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Heard County
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 46 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 Heard County
Schools across Heard County average a B−, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Ephesus Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Centralhatchee Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Roopville Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Heard County Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Central Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Bowdon Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Heard County High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Central High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Bowdon High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Heard County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Heard 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 Heard County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Heard County
Is Heard County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Heard County ranks 1,869th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, affordable childcare, and tree cover, and lowest on walkability and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Heard County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $202,138. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $66,758 median income, cost of living beats 38% of counties.
Is Heard County safe?
Yes, Heard County is safer than 74% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $251 per resident a year.
Compare Heard County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Heard County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Heard 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.
Heard County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Heard County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Heard County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Heard County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Heard County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Heard 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.