Best PlacesSparta, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sparta, 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.
Sparta ranks 49,866th 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 Sparta
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.
Sparta's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sparta ranks high
- Cheap childcare$505 a month, better than 91% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 77% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 74% of towns
Where Sparta ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$43,385 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sparta
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sparta home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $43,385, 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 Sparta's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 Sparta
Sparta 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 Sparta.
Who works in Sparta, and how
Work in Sparta centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Sparta
Sparta has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Sparta and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Sparta, month by month
Sparta sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 47° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 79° | 67° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Sparta
The nearest airport, Middle Georgia Regional, is about 54 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 Sparta
Schools across Sparta average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lakeview AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
- Ridge Road Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Midway Hills AcademyD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- T. J. Elder Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Warren County Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Oak Hill MsD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Baldwin High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Washington County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Hancock Central High SchoolD− · 12% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sparta school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sparta 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 Sparta against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sparta
Is Sparta a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sparta ranks 49,866th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, quiet, and tree cover, and lowest on the schools and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sparta expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $94,777. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $43,385 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Sparta safe?
Sparta is safer than 3% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $761 per resident a year.
Compare Sparta with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sparta. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sparta 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.
Sparta detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sparta: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sparta: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sparta: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sparta: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sparta 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.