Best PlacesLocust Grove, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Locust Grove, 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.
Locust Grove ranks 1,212th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Locust Grove
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.
Locust Grove's strengths and weaknesses
Where Locust Grove ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 92% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 83% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 76% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 74% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 72% of cities
Where Locust Grove ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 1% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 2% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of cities
- Short commute34.8 minutes each way, better than only 6% of cities
- School gradeD+, better than only 11% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Locust Grove
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Locust Grove home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $97,775, 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 Locust Grove's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Locust Grove
Locust Grove 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 Locust Grove.
Who works in Locust Grove, and how
Work in Locust Grove centers on transportation & warehousing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Locust Grove
Locust Grove has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of cities and more parkland per resident than 85% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Locust Grove and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Locust Grove, month by month
Locust Grove sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 45° | 37° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 52° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Locust Grove
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 26 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 Locust Grove
Schools across Locust Grove average a D+, better than 11% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Rocky Creek ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
- Hampton L. Daughtry Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- New Hope ElementaryC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ola Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Locust Grove MiddleC · 32% proficient
- Henderson Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Ola High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Hampton High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Jackson High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Locust Grove school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Locust Grove 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 Locust Grove against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Locust Grove suits
Families
Schools land around the 11th percentile and crime safety beats 67%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of cities and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Locust Grove
Is Locust Grove a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Locust Grove ranks 1,212th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and civic engagement, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Locust Grove expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $326,799. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $97,775 median income, cost of living beats 72% of cities.
Is Locust Grove safe?
Yes, Locust Grove is safer than 67% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $248 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Locust Grove?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 55 with lows near 37. That works out to about 92 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of cities.
Is Locust Grove good for families?
Schools beat 11% of cities, crime safety beats 67%, and childcare runs $911 a month.
Compare Locust Grove with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Locust Grove. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Locust Grove 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.
Locust Grove detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Locust Grove: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Locust Grove: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Locust Grove: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Locust Grove: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Locust Grove 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.