Best PlacesNew Elm, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Elm, 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.
New Elm ranks 38,728th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in New Elm
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.
New Elm's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Elm ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 92% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 124 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 74% of towns
Where New Elm ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 16% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in New Elm
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Elm home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,286, 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 New Elm's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in New Elm
New Elm runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for New Elm.
Who works in New Elm, and how
Work in New Elm centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in New Elm
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across New Elm.
What the weather is like in New Elm, month by month
New Elm sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 50° | 42° |
| April | 78° | 67° | 56° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of New Elm
The nearest airport, Southwest Georgia Regional, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 136 miles away.
The best schools in and around New Elm
Schools across New Elm average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Worth County Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Norman Park Elementary SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Okapilco Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Worth County Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Willie J. Williams Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Colquitt County High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Worth County High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Elm school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Elm 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 New Elm against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in New Elm
Is New Elm a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Elm ranks 38,728th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and the weather, and lowest on thin health care access and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is New Elm expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $131,467. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $64,286 median income, cost of living beats 37% of towns.
Is New Elm safe?
New Elm is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $329 per resident a year.
Compare New Elm with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Elm. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Elm 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.
New Elm detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Elm: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Elm: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Elm: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Elm: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Elm 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.