Best PlacesOglethorpe County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Oglethorpe 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.
Oglethorpe County ranks 1,604th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oglethorpe 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.
Oglethorpe County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oglethorpe County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of counties
- QuietBetter than 94% of counties
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 78% of counties
Where Oglethorpe County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 2% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of counties
- Short commute32.8 minutes each way, better than only 8% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Oglethorpe County
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oglethorpe County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,264, 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 Oglethorpe County'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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oglethorpe County
Oglethorpe County runs older 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 Oglethorpe County.
Who works in Oglethorpe County, and how
Work in Oglethorpe County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Oglethorpe County
Oglethorpe County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Oglethorpe County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Oglethorpe County growing, and who is moving in?
Oglethorpe County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Athens, GA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Oglethorpe County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Oglethorpe County, month by month
Oglethorpe County sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 45° | 33° |
| April | 78° | 63° | 49° |
| July | 94° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 80° | 64° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Oglethorpe County
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 76 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 Oglethorpe County
Schools across Oglethorpe County average a C+, better than 42% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Oglethorpe County Elementary SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oglethorpe County Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Oglethorpe County High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oglethorpe County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oglethorpe 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 Oglethorpe County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Oglethorpe County
Is Oglethorpe County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oglethorpe County ranks 1,604th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, tree cover, and quiet, and lowest on walkability and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oglethorpe County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $227,506. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $70,264 median income, cost of living beats 45% of counties.
Is Oglethorpe County safe?
Yes, Oglethorpe County is safer than 77% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $247 per resident a year.
Compare Oglethorpe County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oglethorpe County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oglethorpe 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.
Oglethorpe County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oglethorpe County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oglethorpe County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oglethorpe County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oglethorpe County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oglethorpe 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.