Best PlacesShellman, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shellman, 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.
Shellman ranks 48,188th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Shellman
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.
Shellman's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shellman ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of towns
- QuietBetter than 75% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 74% of towns
- Short commute23.5 minutes each way, better than 72% of towns
Where Shellman ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- Household income$37,791 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Shellman
A household needs to earn about $26,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shellman home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $37,791, 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 Shellman's effective rate of 0.95%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Shellman
Shellman 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 Shellman.
Who works in Shellman, and how
Work in Shellman centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Shellman
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Shellman.
What the weather is like in Shellman, month by month
Shellman sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 50° | 38° |
| April | 82° | 68° | 53° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 85° | 70° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Shellman
The nearest airport, Southwest Georgia Regional, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shellman
Schools across Shellman average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cooper-carver Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
- Calhoun County Elementary SchoolF · 5% proficient
- Randolph County Elementary SchoolF · 5% proficient
Top middle schools
- Randolph County Middle SchoolF · 7% proficient
- Terrell Middle SchoolF · 6% proficient
- Calhoun County Middle SchoolF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Calhoun County High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Randolph Clay High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
- Terrell High SchoolF · 7% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shellman school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shellman 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 Shellman against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Shellman
Is Shellman a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shellman ranks 48,188th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state finances, and quiet, and lowest on the schools and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shellman expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $99,057. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $37,791 median income, cost of living beats 6% of towns.
Is Shellman safe?
Shellman is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $459 per resident a year.
Compare Shellman with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shellman. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shellman 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.
Shellman detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shellman: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shellman: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shellman: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shellman: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shellman 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.