Best PlacesSumter County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sumter County, 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.
Sumter County ranks 2,964th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The schools pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Sumter County
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.
Sumter County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sumter County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Short commute19.9 minutes each way, better than 79% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 69% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 68% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 102 pleasant days a year, better than 62% of counties
Where Sumter County ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 2% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of counties
- Household income$50,252 median, better than only 9% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sumter County
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sumter County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,252, 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 Sumter County's effective rate of 1.04%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sumter County
Sumter County'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 Sumter County.
Who works in Sumter County, and how
Work in Sumter County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Sumter County
Sumter County has less parkland per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Sumter County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sumter County growing, and who is moving in?
Sumter County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Atlanta, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sumter County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sumter County, month by month
Sumter County sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 60, 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 | 60° | 49° | 40° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 55° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 68° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Sumter County
The nearest airport, Southwest Georgia Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 110 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sumter County
Schools across Sumter County average an F, better than 2% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sumter County Elementary SchoolD− · 11% proficient
- Cooper-carver Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crisp County Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Sumter County Middle SchoolF · 9% proficient
- Terrell Middle SchoolF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Lee High School 9th Grade CampusB · 49% proficient
- Schley Middle High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Webster County High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sumter County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sumter County 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 Sumter County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Sumter County suits
Common questions about living in Sumter County
Is Sumter County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sumter County ranks 2,964th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and state finances, and lowest on the schools and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sumter County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $133,478. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $50,252 median income, cost of living beats 7% of counties.
Is Sumter County safe?
Sumter County is safer than 5% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $592 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sumter County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 40. That works out to about 102 pleasant days a year, more than 62% of counties.
Is Sumter County good for families?
Schools beat 2% of counties, crime safety beats 5%, and childcare runs $502 a month.
Compare Sumter County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sumter County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sumter County 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.
Sumter County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sumter County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sumter County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sumter County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sumter County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sumter County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.