Best PlacesNewton County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Newton 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.
Newton County ranks 1,558th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on fast internet and few empty homes. The weaker spots are long commutes, walkability, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Newton 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.
The best areas in Newton County
The parts of Newton County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Covington
Tree cover is thicker, more households have young kids, and prices have run up less.
Conyers
Fewer homes sit empty.
Oxford
Commutes are shorter, though local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Newton County run from about the 5th to the 85th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Newton County's strengths and weaknesses
Newton County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Fast internet is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Few empty homes and big-city access follow.
The one real hole is long commutes, near the bottom of the country. Walkability and an overheated housing market also cost it ground. That one depends almost entirely on which part you pick, which is what the map below settles.
Where Newton County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 80% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 78% of counties
Where Newton County ranks low
- Short commute35.9 minutes each way, better than only 3% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 11% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Newton County
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Newton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,185, 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 Newton County's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Newton County
Newton County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Newton County.
Who works in Newton County, and how
Work in Newton County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Newton County
Newton County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Newton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Newton County growing, and who is moving in?
Newton County has grown about 20% 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 Newton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Newton County, month by month
Newton County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Newton County
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 31 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 Newton County
Schools across Newton County average a C−, better than 20% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Newton County Theme School At FicquettA− · 56% proficient
- Mansfield Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- East Newton Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Social Circle Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Indian Creek Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Veterans Memorial Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockdale County High SchoolD · 18% proficient
- Social Circle High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Eastside High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Newton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Newton 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 Newton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Newton County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Newton County
Is Newton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Newton County ranks 1,558th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, few empty homes, and big-city access, and lowest on long commutes and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Newton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $270,617. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $81,185 median income, cost of living beats 80% of counties.
Is Newton County safe?
Newton County is safer than 52% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $324 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Newton County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 34. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 33% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Newton County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Covington, Conyers, and Oxford. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Newton County good for families?
Schools beat 20% of counties, crime safety beats 52%, and childcare runs $649 a month.
Is Newton County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 98% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Newton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Newton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Newton 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.
Newton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Newton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Newton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Newton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Newton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Newton 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.