Best PlacesHortense, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hortense, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hortense ranks 38,963rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hortense
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.
Hortense's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hortense ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of towns
- Cheap childcare$507 a month, better than 91% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 74% of towns
Where Hortense ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Short commute34.2 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hortense
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hortense home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,990, 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 Hortense's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hortense
Hortense's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Hortense.
Who works in Hortense, and how
Work in Hortense centers on construction and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Hortense
The coast is about 43 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Hortense, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hortense, month by month
Hortense sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 42° |
| April | 81° | 68° | 56° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Hortense
The nearest airport, Brunswick Golden Isles, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 56 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hortense
Schools across Hortense average a B, better than 64% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Screven Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Waynesville Primary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Nahunta Primary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Atkinson Elementary SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Nahunta Elementary SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Arthur Williams Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Wayne County High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Brunswick High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Brantley County High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hortense school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hortense 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 Hortense against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hortense
Is Hortense a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hortense ranks 38,963rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, fast internet, and affordable childcare, 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 Hortense expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $115,802. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $59,990 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Hortense safe?
Hortense is safer than 54% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $263 per resident a year.
Compare Hortense with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hortense. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hortense 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.
Hortense detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hortense: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hortense: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hortense: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hortense: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hortense 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.