Best PlacesSugar Hill, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sugar Hill, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Sugar Hill ranks 501st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sugar Hill
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.
Sugar Hill's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sugar Hill ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 96% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 86% of cities
Where Sugar Hill ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 8% of cities
- Short commute33.1 minutes each way, better than only 11% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 12% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 27% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 28% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Sugar Hill
A household needs to earn about $118,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sugar Hill home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $117,193; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Sugar Hill's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sugar Hill
Sugar Hill runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sugar Hill.
Who works in Sugar Hill, and how
Work in Sugar Hill centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Sugar Hill
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sugar Hill.
What the weather is like in Sugar Hill, month by month
Sugar Hill sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 44° | 33° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Sugar Hill
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 39 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 51.5 million passengers in 2025, with 278 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Sugar Hill
Schools across Sugar Hill average a B−, better than 57% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Roberts Elementary SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Buford AcademyA · 68% proficient
- White Oak Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Gwinnett Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Buford Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Lanier Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Buford High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- North Gwinnett High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Lanier High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sugar Hill school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sugar Hill 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 Sugar Hill against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Sugar Hill suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 25% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Sugar Hill
Is Sugar Hill a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sugar Hill ranks 501st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a strong job market, few empty homes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on walkability and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sugar Hill expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $442,545. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $117,193 median income, cost of living beats 84% of cities.
Is Sugar Hill safe?
Yes, Sugar Hill is safer than 88% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $185 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sugar Hill?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 55 with lows near 33. That works out to about 89 pleasant days a year, more than 53% of cities.
Is Sugar Hill good for families?
Schools beat 57% of cities, crime safety beats 88%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Compare Sugar Hill with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sugar Hill. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sugar Hill 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.
Sugar Hill detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sugar Hill: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sugar Hill: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sugar Hill: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sugar Hill: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sugar Hill 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.