Best PlacesMachen, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Machen, 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.
Machen ranks 40,652nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Machen
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.
Machen's strengths and weaknesses
Where Machen ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$522 a month, better than 90% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 76% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 74% of towns
Where Machen ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Short commute36.0 minutes each way, better than only 12% of towns
- Household income$51,464 median, better than only 14% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Machen
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Machen home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,464, 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 Machen's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Machen
Machen runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Machen.
Who works in Machen, and how
Work in Machen centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Machen
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Machen.
What the weather is like in Machen, month by month
Machen sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 47° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 79° | 67° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Machen
The nearest airport, Middle Georgia Regional, is about 47 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Machen
Schools across Machen average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Washington Park Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Putnam County Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Jasper County Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Jasper County High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Putnam County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Machen school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Machen 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 Machen against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Machen
Is Machen a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Machen ranks 40,652nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and low disaster risk, and lowest on education levels 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 Machen expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $143,566. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $51,464 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Machen safe?
Machen is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $260 per resident a year.
Compare Machen with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Machen. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Machen 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.
Machen detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Machen: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Machen: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Machen: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Machen: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Machen 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.