Best PlacesSapelo Island, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sapelo Island, 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.
Sapelo Island ranks 41,456th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Sapelo Island
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.
Sapelo Island's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sapelo Island ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of towns
- QuietBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap childcare$513 a month, better than 91% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 83% of towns
- Household income$94,504 median, better than 81% of towns
Where Sapelo Island ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Short commute38.4 minutes each way, better than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sapelo Island
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sapelo Island home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $94,504, 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 Sapelo Island's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sapelo Island
Sapelo Island 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 Sapelo Island.
Who works in Sapelo Island, and how
Work in Sapelo Island centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Sapelo Island
The coast is about 71 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Sapelo Island, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Sapelo Island, month by month
Sapelo Island sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 42° |
| April | 79° | 67° | 56° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 81° | 70° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Sapelo Island
The nearest airport, Brunswick Golden Isles, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sapelo Island
Schools across Sapelo Island average a C−, better than 22% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oglethorpe Point Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Rincon Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Todd Grant Elementary SchoolD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Glynn MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Effingham County Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Mcintosh County Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Glynn AcademyB · 50% proficient
- Effingham County High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Mcintosh AcademyC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sapelo Island school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sapelo Island 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 Sapelo Island against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sapelo Island
Is Sapelo Island a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sapelo Island ranks 41,456th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, quiet, and affordable childcare, and lowest on disaster risk and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sapelo Island expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $303,633. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $94,504 median income, cost of living beats 83% of towns.
Is Sapelo Island safe?
Sapelo Island is safer than 42% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $294 per resident a year.
Compare Sapelo Island with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sapelo Island. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sapelo Island 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.
Sapelo Island detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sapelo Island: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sapelo Island: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sapelo Island: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sapelo Island: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sapelo Island 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.