Best PlacesJonesboro, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Jonesboro, 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.
Jonesboro ranks 1,928th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. An overheated housing market pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Jonesboro
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.
Jonesboro's strengths and weaknesses
Where Jonesboro ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 83% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 74% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 73% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 66% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 65% of cities
Where Jonesboro ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of cities
- Short commute33.4 minutes each way, better than only 10% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of cities
- School gradeD+, better than only 11% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Jonesboro
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jonesboro home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,266, 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 Jonesboro's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Jonesboro
Jonesboro 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 Jonesboro.
Who works in Jonesboro, and how
Work in Jonesboro centers on transportation & warehousing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Jonesboro
Jonesboro has more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Jonesboro and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Jonesboro, month by month
Jonesboro sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 45° | 35° |
| April | 77° | 64° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Jonesboro
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 9 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 Jonesboro
Schools across Jonesboro average a D+, better than 11% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Inman ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
- Spring Hill Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- North Fayette Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Flat Rock Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Bennett's Mill Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- M. D. Roberts Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Elite Scholars Academy SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Martha Ellen Stilwell School For The Performing ArtsB− · 42% proficient
- Dutchtown HighC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jonesboro school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jonesboro 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 Jonesboro against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Jonesboro suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Jonesboro
Is Jonesboro a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jonesboro ranks 1,928th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state finances, state infrastructure, and tree cover, and lowest on an overheated housing market and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Jonesboro expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $249,200. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $73,266 median income, cost of living beats 39% of cities.
Is Jonesboro safe?
Jonesboro is safer than 10% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $464 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Jonesboro?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 35. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of cities.
Is Jonesboro good for families?
Schools beat 11% of cities, crime safety beats 10%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Compare Jonesboro with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jonesboro. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jonesboro 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.
Jonesboro detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jonesboro: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jonesboro: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jonesboro: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jonesboro: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jonesboro 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.