Best PlacesSt. Marys, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around St. Marys, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
St. Marys ranks 12,159th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in St. Marys
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.
St. Marys' strengths and weaknesses
Where St. Marys ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 160 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 83% of towns
- BikingBetter than 81% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of towns
Where St. Marys ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 27% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 30% of towns
- Cheap childcare$919 a month, better than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in St. Marys
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Marys home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,511, 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 St. Marys' effective rate of 0.86%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in St. Marys
St. Marys'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 St. Marys.
Who works in St. Marys, and how
Work in St. Marys centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in St. Marys
St. Marys has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns and more parkland per resident than 84% of towns. The coast is about 34 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of St. Marys and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in St. Marys, month by month
St. Marys sees roughly 160 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 53° | 44° |
| April | 77° | 68° | 59° |
| July | 90° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 80° | 72° | 64° |
Flying in and out of St. Marys
Jacksonville International sits about 20 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.7 million passengers in 2025, with 86 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around St. Marys
Schools across St. Marys average an A−, better than 83% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sugarmill ElementaryA · 69% proficient
- Saint Marys Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Mary Lee Clark Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Saint Marys Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Camden Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Yulee High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Camden County High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Marys school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
St. Marys 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 St. Marys against the other 50,332 towns.
Who St. Marys suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 76% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in St. Marys
Is St. Marys a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Marys ranks 12,159th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, good schools, and biking, and lowest on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is St. Marys expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $314,876. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $87,511 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is St. Marys safe?
Yes, St. Marys is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in St. Marys?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 44. That works out to about 160 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of towns.
Is St. Marys good for families?
Schools beat 83% of towns, crime safety beats 59%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Compare St. Marys with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Marys. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in St. Marys 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.
St. Marys detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Marys: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Marys: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Marys: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Marys: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
St. Marys 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.