Best PlacesPooler, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pooler, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Pooler ranks 1,389th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pooler
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.
Pooler's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pooler ranks high
- Cheap childcare$480 a month, better than 99% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 94% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 84% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 83% of cities
Where Pooler ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 12% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 13% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Pooler
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pooler home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $94,727, 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 Pooler's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 Pooler
Pooler'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 Pooler.
Who works in Pooler, and how
Work in Pooler centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Pooler
Pooler has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. The coast is about 33 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Pooler and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Pooler, month by month
Pooler sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| April | 81° | 67° | 54° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 83° | 70° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Pooler
The nearest airport, Savannah/Hilton Head International, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pooler
Schools across Pooler average a D, better than 6% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- South Effingham Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Marlow Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Godley Station SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Effingham Middle SchoolA− · 52% proficient
- West Chatham Middle SchoolF · 11% proficient
- Southwest Middle SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- South Effingham High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- New Hampstead High SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Groves High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pooler school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pooler 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 Pooler against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Pooler suits
Families
Schools land around the 6th percentile and crime safety beats 84%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 73% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Pooler
Is Pooler a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pooler ranks 1,389th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pooler expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $315,869. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $94,727 median income, cost of living beats 73% of cities.
Is Pooler safe?
Yes, Pooler is safer than 84% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $205 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Pooler?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 39. That works out to about 91 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of cities.
Is Pooler good for families?
Schools beat 6% of cities, crime safety beats 84%, and childcare runs $480 a month.
Compare Pooler with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pooler. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pooler 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.
Pooler detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pooler: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pooler: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pooler: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pooler: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pooler 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.