Best PlacesNelson, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nelson, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Nelson ranks 5,976th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nelson
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.
Nelson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nelson ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of towns
- Household income$110,330 median, better than 90% of towns
Where Nelson ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 27% of towns
- Short commute31.3 minutes each way, better than only 27% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 28% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nelson
A household needs to earn about $92,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nelson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $110,330, 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 Nelson's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Nelson
Nelson'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 Nelson.
Who works in Nelson, and how
Work in Nelson centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Nelson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Nelson.
What the weather is like in Nelson, month by month
Nelson sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Nelson
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 52 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 Nelson
Schools across Nelson average a B−, better than 55% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ball Ground Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Tate Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Creekland Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Pickens County Junior High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Creekview High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Pickens County High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nelson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nelson 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 Nelson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nelson
Is Nelson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nelson ranks 5,976th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, low crime, and what local pay buys, and lowest on noise and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nelson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $357,768. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $110,330 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is Nelson safe?
Yes, Nelson is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $147 per resident a year.
Compare Nelson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nelson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nelson 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.
Nelson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nelson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nelson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nelson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nelson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nelson 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.