Best PlacesTift County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Tift 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.
Tift County ranks 2,225th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Tift 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.
Tift County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tift County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 86% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 75% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 69% of counties
- Short commute21.6 minutes each way, better than 68% of counties
Where Tift County ranks low
- School gradeD+, better than only 16% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 21% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 22% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Tift County
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tift County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,016, 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 Tift County's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Tift County
Tift County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Tift County.
Who works in Tift County, and how
Work in Tift County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Tift County
Tift County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Tift County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Tift County growing, and who is moving in?
Tift County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Atlanta, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Tift County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Tift County, month by month
Tift County sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 50° | 41° |
| April | 78° | 67° | 56° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 80° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Tift County
The nearest airport, Southwest Georgia Regional, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 127 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tift County
Schools across Tift County average a D+, better than 16% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Len Lastinger Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Annie Belle Clark Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Matt Wilson Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Eighth Street Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Northeast Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Tift County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tift County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tift 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 Tift County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Tift County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Tift County
Is Tift County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tift County ranks 2,225th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, a strong job market, and a stable housing market, and lowest on the schools and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tift County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $179,332. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $60,016 median income, cost of living beats 30% of counties.
Is Tift County safe?
Tift County is safer than 25% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $417 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Tift County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 41. That works out to about 102 pleasant days a year, more than 62% of counties.
Is Tift County good for families?
Schools beat 16% of counties, crime safety beats 25%, and childcare runs $649 a month.
Compare Tift County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tift County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tift 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.
Tift County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tift County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tift County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tift County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tift County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tift 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.