Best PlacesTowns County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Towns County, 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.
Towns County ranks 1,685th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Towns 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.
Towns County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Towns County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of counties
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 90% of counties
Where Towns County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 9% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 10% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Towns County
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Towns County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $62,325, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Towns County's effective rate of 0.36%, 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 Towns County
Towns County 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 Towns County.
Who works in Towns County, and how
Work in Towns County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Towns County
Towns County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Towns County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Towns County growing, and who is moving in?
Towns County has grown about 19% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Atlanta, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Towns County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Towns County, month by month
Towns County sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 37° | 28° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Towns County
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 61 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around Towns County
Schools across Towns County average a C+, better than 54% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Towns County Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Union County Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Towns County Middle SchoolB+ · 47% proficient
- Union County Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Union County High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Towns County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Towns County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Towns 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 Towns County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Towns County
Is Towns County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Towns County ranks 1,685th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, health care access, and low property taxes, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Towns County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $329,884. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $62,325 median income, cost of living beats 29% of counties.
Is Towns County safe?
Yes, Towns County is safer than 66% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $265 per resident a year.
Compare Towns County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Towns County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Towns 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.
Towns County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Towns County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Towns County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Towns County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Towns County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Towns 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.