Best PlacesRockdale County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rockdale County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rockdale County ranks 1,717th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rockdale 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.
Rockdale County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rockdale County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of counties
- Household income$84,646 median, better than 82% of counties
Where Rockdale County ranks low
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of counties
- Short commute33.7 minutes each way, better than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 15% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rockdale County
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rockdale County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,646, 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 Rockdale County's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 Rockdale County
Rockdale 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 Rockdale County.
Who works in Rockdale County, and how
Work in Rockdale County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, 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 Rockdale County
Rockdale County has less parkland per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Rockdale County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Rockdale County growing, and who is moving in?
Rockdale County has grown about 12% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Atlanta, GA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rockdale County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rockdale County, month by month
Rockdale County sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Rockdale County
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 24 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 Rockdale County
Schools across Rockdale County average a D, better than 5% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hightower Trail Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Barksdale Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Lorraine Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- General Ray Davis Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Edwards Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Memorial Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockdale County High SchoolD · 18% proficient
- Heritage High SchoolD− · 12% proficient
- Salem High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rockdale County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rockdale 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 Rockdale County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Rockdale County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Rockdale County
Is Rockdale County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rockdale County ranks 1,717th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, few empty homes, 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 Rockdale County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $310,031. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $84,646 median income, cost of living beats 87% of counties.
Is Rockdale County safe?
Rockdale County is safer than 23% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $408 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rockdale County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 34. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of counties.
Is Rockdale County good for families?
Schools beat 5% of counties, crime safety beats 23%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Compare Rockdale County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rockdale County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rockdale 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.
Rockdale County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rockdale County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rockdale County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rockdale County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rockdale County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rockdale 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.