Best PlacesLumpkin County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lumpkin County, 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.
Lumpkin County ranks 1,098th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lumpkin County
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.
Lumpkin County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lumpkin County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 98% of counties
- QuietBetter than 84% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 81% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 81% of counties
Where Lumpkin County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 20% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 22% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of counties
- Short commute28.3 minutes each way, better than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lumpkin County
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lumpkin County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $76,753; 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 Lumpkin County's effective rate of 0.59%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lumpkin County
Lumpkin County'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 Lumpkin County.
Who works in Lumpkin County, and how
Work in Lumpkin County centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Lumpkin County
Lumpkin County has more parkland per resident than 79% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Lumpkin County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lumpkin County growing, and who is moving in?
Lumpkin County has grown about 16% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Atlanta, GA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lumpkin County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lumpkin County, month by month
Lumpkin County sees roughly 77 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 | 75° | 62° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Lumpkin County
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 66 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 Lumpkin County
Schools across Lumpkin County average a B−, better than 57% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Wauka Mountain Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Mount Vernon Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Chattahoochee Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dawson County Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- White County Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- North Hall Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Lumpkin County High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- North Forsyth High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- White County High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lumpkin County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lumpkin County 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 Lumpkin County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lumpkin County suits
Common questions about living in Lumpkin County
Is Lumpkin County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lumpkin County ranks 1,098th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, a strong job market, and quiet, and lowest on an overheated housing market and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lumpkin County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $316,537. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $76,753 median income, cost of living beats 60% of counties.
Is Lumpkin County safe?
Yes, Lumpkin County is safer than 76% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $254 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lumpkin County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 33. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 33% of counties.
Is Lumpkin County good for families?
Schools beat 57% of counties, crime safety beats 76%, and childcare runs $649 a month.
Compare Lumpkin County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lumpkin County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lumpkin County 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.
Lumpkin County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lumpkin County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lumpkin County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lumpkin County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lumpkin County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lumpkin County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.