Best PlacesLavonia, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lavonia, 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.
Lavonia ranks 40,354th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. An overheated housing market pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Lavonia
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.
Lavonia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lavonia ranks high
- Cheap childcare$551 a month, better than 87% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 77% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of towns
- Short commute23.0 minutes each way, better than 74% of towns
Where Lavonia ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$49,996 median, better than only 12% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 21% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lavonia
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lavonia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $49,996; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Lavonia's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lavonia
Lavonia's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lavonia.
Who works in Lavonia, and how
Work in Lavonia centers on manufacturing and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lavonia
Lavonia has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Lavonia and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lavonia, month by month
Lavonia sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 44° | 35° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 51° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Lavonia
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 58 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lavonia
Schools across Lavonia average a C, better than 37% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Carnesville Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Royston Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- North Hart Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Franklin County Middle SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Hart County Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Franklin County High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Hart County High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lavonia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lavonia 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 Lavonia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lavonia
Is Lavonia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lavonia ranks 40,354th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, walkability, and a strong job market, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lavonia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,734. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $49,996 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Lavonia safe?
Lavonia is safer than 27% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $402 per resident a year.
Compare Lavonia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lavonia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lavonia 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.
Lavonia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lavonia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lavonia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lavonia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lavonia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lavonia 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.