Best PlacesKennesaw, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kennesaw, 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.
Kennesaw ranks 868th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on population health, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kennesaw
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.
Kennesaw's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kennesaw ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 85% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 83% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 83% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 75% of cities
Where Kennesaw ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 18% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 23% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 24% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 25% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 28% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Kennesaw
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kennesaw home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $110,908, 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 Kennesaw's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 Kennesaw
Kennesaw runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kennesaw.
Who works in Kennesaw, and how
Work in Kennesaw centers on retail trade and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Kennesaw
Kennesaw has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of cities and more parkland per resident than 89% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kennesaw and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kennesaw, month by month
Kennesaw sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 33° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 77° | 65° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Kennesaw
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 29 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 Kennesaw
Schools across Kennesaw average a C+, better than 37% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- West Side Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Ford Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Due West Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lost Mountain Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Mcclure Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Palmer Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Harrison High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Kennesaw Mountain High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- North Cobb High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kennesaw school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kennesaw 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 Kennesaw against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Kennesaw suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 21% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Kennesaw
Is Kennesaw a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kennesaw ranks 868th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on population health, tree cover, and what local pay buys, and lowest on noise and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kennesaw expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $401,740. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $110,908 median income, cost of living beats 83% of cities.
Is Kennesaw safe?
Kennesaw is safer than 24% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $409 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kennesaw?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 33. That works out to about 92 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of cities.
Is Kennesaw good for families?
Schools beat 37% of cities, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Compare Kennesaw with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kennesaw. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kennesaw 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.
Kennesaw detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kennesaw: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kennesaw: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kennesaw: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kennesaw: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kennesaw 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.