Best PlacesRabun Gap, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rabun Gap, 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.
Rabun Gap ranks 25,077th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rabun Gap
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.
Rabun Gap's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rabun Gap ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 92% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 79% of towns
Where Rabun Gap ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 27% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rabun Gap
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rabun Gap home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $67,548; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Rabun Gap's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rabun Gap
Rabun Gap runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rabun Gap.
Who works in Rabun Gap, and how
Work in Rabun Gap centers on admin & support services and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Rabun Gap
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rabun Gap.
What the weather is like in Rabun Gap, month by month
Rabun Gap sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 37° | 28° |
| April | 71° | 56° | 43° |
| July | 86° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 72° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Rabun Gap
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 59 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 108 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rabun Gap
Schools across Rabun Gap average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Rabun County Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Rabun County High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rabun Gap school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rabun Gap 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 Rabun Gap against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rabun Gap
Is Rabun Gap a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rabun Gap ranks 25,077th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, clean air, and tree cover, and lowest on empty homes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rabun Gap expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $277,807. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $67,548 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Rabun Gap safe?
Rabun Gap is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $352 per resident a year.
Compare Rabun Gap with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rabun Gap. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rabun Gap 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.
Rabun Gap detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rabun Gap: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rabun Gap: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rabun Gap: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rabun Gap: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rabun Gap 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.