Best PlacesMacon, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Macon, 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.
Macon ranks 32,024th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Macon
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.
Macon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Macon ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 80% of towns
Where Macon ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 10% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Macon
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Macon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $73,674, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Macon's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 Macon
Macon runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Macon.
Who works in Macon, and how
Work in Macon centers on retail trade and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Macon
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Macon.
What the weather is like in Macon, month by month
Macon sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 39° | 28° |
| April | 74° | 59° | 45° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Macon
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 59 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.7 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Macon
Schools across Macon average a D, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Northside ElementaryD+ · 24% proficient
- Hollister Elementary Leadership AcademyD · 19% proficient
- Vaughan ElementaryD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Warren County MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Warren Early College HighA− · 60% proficient
- Northwest Halifax Collegiate And TechnicD− · 17% proficient
- Warren County HighD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Macon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Macon 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 Macon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Macon
Is Macon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Macon ranks 32,024th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and health care access, and lowest on crime and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Macon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $350,704. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $73,674 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Macon safe?
Macon is safer than 9% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $638 per resident a year.
Compare Macon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Macon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Macon 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.
Macon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Macon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Macon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Macon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Macon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Macon 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.