Best PlacesSpence, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Spence, 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.
Spence ranks 29,484th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Spence
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.
Spence's strengths and weaknesses
Where Spence ranks high
- QuietBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 123 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 79% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of towns
Where Spence ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 9% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Spence
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Spence home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,449, 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 Spence's effective rate of 0.81%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Spence
Spence 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 Spence.
Who works in Spence, and how
Work in Spence centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Spence
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Spence.
What the weather is like in Spence, month by month
Spence sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 55° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 82° | 68° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Spence
The nearest airport, Southwest Georgia Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 153 miles away.
The best schools in and around Spence
Schools across Spence average a C−, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Shiver Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thomas County Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Thomas County Central High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Pelham High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Spence school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Spence 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 Spence against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Spence
Is Spence a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Spence ranks 29,484th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, affordable childcare, and the weather, and lowest on disaster risk and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Spence expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $160,986. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $69,449 median income, cost of living beats 47% of towns.
Is Spence safe?
Yes, Spence is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $284 per resident a year.
Compare Spence with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Spence. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Spence 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.
Spence detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Spence: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Spence: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Spence: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Spence: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Spence 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.