Best PlacesPolk County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Polk 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.
Polk County ranks 2,244th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on affordable childcare, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Polk 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.
Polk County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Polk County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 82% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 77% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 76% of counties
Where Polk County ranks low
- School gradeD+, better than only 11% of counties
- Short commute30.5 minutes each way, better than only 14% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 16% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Polk County
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Polk County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,163, 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 Polk County's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Polk County
Polk County'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 Polk County.
Who works in Polk County, and how
Work in Polk County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Polk County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Polk County.
Is Polk County growing, and who is moving in?
Polk County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Atlanta, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Polk County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Polk County, month by month
Polk County sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 44° | 37° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 52° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Polk County
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 50 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 Polk County
Schools across Polk County average a D+, better than 11% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Pepperell ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Taylorsville Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Westside Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pepperell Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Haralson County Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Carl Scoggins Sr. Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Woodland High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Pepperell High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Cedartown High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Polk County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Polk 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 Polk County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Polk County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Polk County
Is Polk County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Polk County ranks 2,244th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and big-city access, and lowest on the schools and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Polk County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $185,783. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $63,163 median income, cost of living beats 48% of counties.
Is Polk County safe?
Polk County is safer than 44% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $327 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Polk County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 37. That works out to about 91 pleasant days a year, more than 53% of counties.
Is Polk County good for families?
Schools beat 11% of counties, crime safety beats 44%, and childcare runs $502 a month.
Compare Polk County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Polk County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Polk 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.
Polk County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Polk County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Polk County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Polk County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Polk County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Polk 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.