Best PlacesRayle, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rayle, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rayle ranks 42,448th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rayle
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.
Rayle's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rayle ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 92% of towns
- QuietBetter than 91% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 74% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 72% of towns
Where Rayle ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Short commute38.7 minutes each way, better than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rayle
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rayle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,125, 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 Rayle's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rayle
Rayle runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rayle.
Who works in Rayle, and how
Work in Rayle centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Rayle
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rayle.
What the weather is like in Rayle, month by month
Rayle sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 45° | 37° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Rayle
The nearest airport, Augusta Regional at Bush Field, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rayle
Schools across Rayle average a D+, better than 17% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Washington-wilkes Primary SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oglethorpe County Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Washington-wilkes Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Washington-wilkes Comprehensive High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Oglethorpe County High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rayle school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rayle 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 Rayle against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rayle
Is Rayle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rayle ranks 42,448th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, quiet, and state finances, and lowest on a weak job market and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rayle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $140,690. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $53,125 median income, cost of living beats 16% of towns.
Is Rayle safe?
Rayle is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $262 per resident a year.
Compare Rayle with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rayle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rayle 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.
Rayle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rayle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rayle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rayle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rayle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rayle 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.