Best PlacesLake Talmadge, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Talmadge, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lake Talmadge ranks 26,812th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lake Talmadge
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.
Lake Talmadge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Talmadge ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 84% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 80% of towns
Where Lake Talmadge ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Short commute40.6 minutes each way, better than only 5% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 17% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 18% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Talmadge
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Talmadge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,235, 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 Lake Talmadge's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Lake Talmadge
Lake Talmadge 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 Lake Talmadge.
Who works in Lake Talmadge, and how
Work in Lake Talmadge centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lake Talmadge
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lake Talmadge.
What the weather is like in Lake Talmadge, month by month
Lake Talmadge sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 58, 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 | 58° | 44° | 33° |
| April | 78° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 79° | 64° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Lake Talmadge
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 16 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 Lake Talmadge
Schools across Lake Talmadge average a C−, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Inman ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
- Rocky Creek ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
- Mount Carmel Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Whitewater Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Hampton Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Eddie White Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Whitewater High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Martha Ellen Stilwell School For The Performing ArtsB− · 42% proficient
- Hampton High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Talmadge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Talmadge 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 Lake Talmadge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lake Talmadge
Is Lake Talmadge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Talmadge ranks 26,812th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, fast internet, and a strong job market, and lowest on an overheated housing market and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake Talmadge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $282,396. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $83,235 median income, cost of living beats 73% of towns.
Is Lake Talmadge safe?
Lake Talmadge is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
Compare Lake Talmadge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Talmadge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Talmadge 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.
Lake Talmadge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Talmadge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Talmadge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Talmadge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Talmadge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Talmadge 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.