Best PlacesHigh Shoals, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around High Shoals, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
High Shoals ranks 5,293rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in High Shoals
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.
High Shoals' strengths and weaknesses
Where High Shoals ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of towns
- Household income$110,022 median, better than 90% of towns
- QuietBetter than 84% of towns
Where High Shoals ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 24% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in High Shoals
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median High Shoals home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $110,022, 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 High Shoals' effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in High Shoals
High Shoals runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for High Shoals.
Who works in High Shoals, and how
Work in High Shoals centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in High Shoals
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across High Shoals.
What the weather is like in High Shoals, month by month
High Shoals sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 55, 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 | 55° | 44° | 36° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 76° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of High Shoals
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 53 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 High Shoals
Schools across High Shoals average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Morgan County Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Harmony Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
- Monroe ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Morgan County Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Carver Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- North Oconee High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Oconee County High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Monroe Area High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every High Shoals school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
High Shoals 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 High Shoals against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in High Shoals
Is High Shoals a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, High Shoals ranks 5,293rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, low crime, and what local pay buys, and lowest on cell coverage and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is High Shoals expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $384,277. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $110,022 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is High Shoals safe?
Yes, High Shoals is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $152 per resident a year.
Compare High Shoals with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to High Shoals. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in High Shoals 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.
High Shoals detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for High Shoals: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in High Shoals: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of High Shoals: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in High Shoals: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
High Shoals 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.
- 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.